Sigeumchi-namul시금치나물

Spinach is native to Central Asia, centered on present-day Iran, and is thought to have reached Korea by way of China. A Chinese story says a monk brought the seeds from a land to the west and called them "seeds of the kingdom of Poleng (頗稜)," and the name gradually shifted into bōléng (菠薐), spinach. In Korea it was written as pachae (菠菜) or jeokgeunchae (赤根菜), "red-root greens," after the reddish tinge of its roots.

In Korean writing, spinach first appears in Hunmong Jahoe, a 16th-century character primer compiled by Choe Sejin, and it is believed to have been cultivated from around that time. Spinach handles cold well and keeps growing through winter. Because Koreans mostly blanch it for namul, they favor Asian-type varieties that keep a pleasant texture after cooking, such as seomcho, a so-called "winter spinach" grown in autumn and winter.

Namul (나물) falls into two broad styles, stir-fried in oil or blanched and dressed, and sigeumchi-namul (시금치나물) is a textbook example of the second. After blanching, the spinach is squeezed firmly so that leftover water doesn't dilute the seasoning. Serving two or three namul together in one dish was thought to look lovely, with white and green side by side.