Jeonho (Wild Chervil)

Anthriscus sylvestris

Aromatic oils, fibre · a south-coast spring green

Jeonho is a perennial in the carrot family, grown as a spring green along Korea's south coast around Geoje and Tongyeong. Seed goes in during autumn, the plants sit through winter, and the young leaves are cut from February to April. The scent is strong, somewhere between water dropwort and angelica, so the leaves are blanched and dressed, or folded whole into batter and fried. The Donguibogam lists 前胡 in the Herb section, giving it a slightly cold nature, a sweet and pungent taste and no toxicity, and noting that it grows everywhere and that the root is dug in the second and eighth lunar months and dried in the sun. That old entry describes a dried root used as materia medica, and the Korean Pharmacopoeia defines its source as the root of Peucedanum praeruptorum or Angelica decursiva; the green now grown in the south shares nothing but the name. Because the carrot family also contains deadly plants such as cowbane and poison hemlock, use plants raised in cultivation rather than anything gathered from a hillside.

Year-Round Calendar

Sowing

Harvest

Where It Grows

Main producer Wild population Latitudes at 10–20℃ Zoom and pan to explore · temperatures are rough zonal averages

Main producer Effectively the only country that grows it in fields and brings it to market as a spring green. The islands and coastline of Geoje and Tongyeong in South Gyeongsang are the center of production. Harvest February, March, April
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Wild population It grows wild in the mountains of Hokkaido and of Honshu from the central region northward, where it is known as shaku and gathered as a wild mountain green.
Wild population It is distributed through the mountains of Northeast and Southwest China.

It is a common wild plant across temperate Eurasia, so its origin cannot be pinned to any single country. In Europe it is seen as cow parsley, growing everywhere along roadsides and in fields, and is not treated as food; the south coast of Korea is effectively the only place that plants it in fields and sells it as a spring green. Because the carrot family, Apiaceae, includes several poisonous plants with similar-looking young leaves, gathering it in the wild is not recommended.

Optimum: 10~20℃
Range: 0~25℃
Hardiness: Hardy

A cool-climate perennial. On the south coast, where winters are not severely cold, the leaves overwinter above the frozen ground and keep growing, and are cut in early spring. In summer heat the top growth withers, and once the flower stalk rises the stems turn tough and can no longer be used as an edible green.

Harvested 1–1 years after planting. Seed is sown in autumn, the plants overwinter, and the crop is cut the following year between February and April. The sowing month and the harvest month do not fall in the same year. As a perennial, once it takes hold it comes up again every year from the following season.

In Korea Southern Korea

Cultivation centers on the south-coast islands and shoreline around Geoje and Tongyeong in South Gyeongsang. Since the leaves must stay alive through winter to be cut in early spring, the mild-wintered south coast is the right place for it, while the plant itself grows wild in mountains nationwide.

How to grow

Light: A spot with good spring light. Part shade suits it better in midsummer
Soil and depth: Free-draining soil with leaf mould worked in. The root goes straight down, so dig at least 25cm
Spacing: 20cm between plants, 30cm between rows. Sow in drills and thin to spacing
Watering: Keep the bed from drying until the autumn sowing germinates. Almost no watering through winter
Feeding: Well-rotted compost as a base dressing, with one side dressing after the first cut
Harvest: Cut at the base from February to April, once the leaves are a palm's length and the stems are still tender. Once flower stems rise the plant turns fibrous and is no longer worth cutting. Two or three cuts can be taken from one plant

What makes the difference. Being perennial, it comes back each year once established. It also seeds itself freely and escapes the bed, so cut off any flower stems you are not keeping before the seed ripens

Why this one is harder. The real danger is not pests but misidentification. Gathering lookalike plants from the wild risks cowbane and poison hemlock, so mark where the crop is planted and cut only from that spot

Common problems

Aphids You will see Colonies on new shoots and flower stems, with curling leaves What to do Wash off with a jet of water; if it recurs, use an egg-yolk oil spray. Do not spray a bed about to be cut
Slugs You will see Ragged holes in young leaves and overnight slime trails What to do Lay a board out in the evening and lift it in the morning to collect them. Clear dead grass from the plot edges
Grey mould You will see Leaves turn soft after winter rain and grey fuzz settles on them What to do Open up the spacing so air moves through, and remove soft leaves as soon as they appear

This page describes how a crop is grown and used. It does not claim health effects for any food, nor is it intended to prevent or treat disease. Component and study notes are references only and do not mean the same result occurs in people. Consult a medical professional about health concerns.

Health Benefits

What the Donguibogam records — nature, taste and gathering season. The Donguibogam lists the plant in the Herb section as 前胡. It gives a slightly cold nature, a taste both sweet and pungent, and no toxicity. It notes that the plant grows everywhere and that the root is dug in the second and eighth lunar months and dried in the sun. That entry concerns a dried root used as materia medica, a different plant from the green grown on the south coast. This is a historical medical record and differs from modern medical judgment.

The medicinal 前胡 and the green called jeonho are different plants. The Korean Pharmacopoeia defines the source of the medicinal 前胡 as the root of Peucedanum praeruptorum or Angelica decursiva. The jeonho grown for greens along Korea's south coast is Anthriscus sylvestris, a carrot-family plant that shares nothing but the name. This entry covers the cultivated green and does not borrow composition or use from the old record.

Nutrition

Essential oils (aroma fraction) (the carrot-family scent carried in leaf and stem) — the volatile compounds behind the aroma
Dietary fibre (at the level of an ordinary leafy green) — the polysaccharides that build leaf tissue
Carotenoids including beta-carotene (present alongside the deep green) — pigments reported in dark leafy greens

Do not gather it from the wild Use plants raised in a plot rather than anything dug from a hillside. The carrot family includes deadly plants such as cowbane and poison hemlock, and the finely divided young leaves are hardest to tell apart in early spring. The jeonho sold as a green on the south coast is grown in cultivation, and that is the plant covered here. A plant that cannot be identified with certainty is not food.

The oils behind the scent The strong smell of jeonho comes from volatile oils held in the leaf and stem. As with most carrot-family greens the aroma is softest in young leaves and grows coarse as the stems thicken. Blanching drives some of it off, so the leaves should not sit long in the water. Twenty to thirty seconds in boiling water, then straight into cold, is about right.

A green that is always blanched Jeonho is not eaten raw. A quick blanch and a rinse in cold water takes the harsh edge off and brightens the colour. Throw the blanching water away. Deoxypodophyllotoxin-type lignans have been reported in Anthriscus sylvestris, the species grown as this green. They are found mainly in the root, and neither the level in young leaves nor a safe amount for a person to eat has been established. That is the background to the long-standing habit of serving it as one small side dish rather than in quantity.

Where it sits among leafy greens The young leaves are mostly water, with dietary fibre making up most of the rest. Like other dark greens they carry carotenoid pigments. There is nowhere near as much compositional data on jeonho as on cabbage or spinach, so it is more honest to treat it as a seasonal green than to line it up against numbers. Past two days in the fridge the scent fades and the leaves go limp.

Pairings

○ Doenjang and perilla oil — Blanched jeonho dressed with soybean paste and perilla oil is the most common preparation. The oil holds the aroma in place and the salt of the paste covers the harsh edge. Squeeze the leaves dry before dressing.

○ Wheat batter — jeon — Young leaves are also laid whole into batter and fried as pancakes. Oil and heat pin the aroma down, giving a different result from the dressed version. Split thick leaves in half before adding them.

○ Added to soup at the end — Dropped into a soybean-paste or clear soup just as the heat goes off, the scent survives. Long boiling drives it away and collapses the leaves. A handful is enough for a pot.

△ Mistaking it for cowbane or poison hemlock — Jeonho is a carrot-family plant, and its divided leaves resemble those of cowbane (Cicuta virosa) and poison hemlock (Conium maculatum). Both carry poisons that can kill, and early spring, when the young leaves come up, is exactly when confusion happens. Cowbane grows by water and in wet ground, and a cut through its thick rootstock shows internal chambers and weeps a yellow juice. Poison hemlock has purple blotches on the stem and an unpleasant smell when rubbed. Other poisonous plants of the carrot family grow on the same hillsides. Do not gather it from hillsides or roadsides; use plants raised in the plot. If a plant cannot be identified with certainty, it is not food.

△ The root is not a vegetable — The parts eaten are young leaves and tender stems. That is a different use from the dried root of the old record, and roots dug from the plot are not boiled up as a green. Handle the roots only when dividing plants.

△ Not in quantity, meal after meal — Strongly aromatic mountain greens have long been eaten in small servings. Deoxypodophyllotoxin-type lignans have been reported in Anthriscus sylvestris, the species grown as this green; they sit mainly in the root, and neither the level in young leaves nor a safe amount for a person to eat has been established. So jeonho belongs on the table as one side dish, not as a staple at every meal. Anyone eating it for the first time should start with a small amount.

Varieties

Geoje landrace line (seed) — Long grown for greens on the south coast. Tender leaves
Wild-collected seed line (seed) — Seed saved from plants growing in the open. A sharper scent

Source: Donguibogam, Herb Section 前胡 · National Institute of Biological Resources, National List of Species of Korea