Korean immigrants introduced now-familiar "Korean-style carrots" (morkovcha), spicy marinated young fern shoots, and pickled burdock. Why? Because the island lacked their beloved napa cabbage for kimchi, so they adapted their signature pickling methods to locally available plants.

Interestingly, I only learned that fern is actually eaten in the Russian Far East a few years ago. Yet for Sakhalin residents, it's everyday food. It's harvested in spring when the young shoots first emerge, tender and flavorful. Three varieties are prized: the most famous and popular is bracken (orlyak), while osmunda and ostrich fern (fiddleheads) are used slightly less often.

Fern is first soaked for a long time, then boiled, and finally stewed with fried onions, red pepper, and soy sauce. Garlic and roasted sesame seeds are added at the end.

Burdock has become one of the calling cards of modern Sakhalin cuisine. Chefs here create true masterpieces from what might seem like an ordinary plant. The stems are soaked in water, then boiled and stewed with onions and spices. It's served as a side dish or enjoyed on its own.

Another plant widely used in Sakhalin cooking is marsh marigold (калужница). (I actually have some growing in my garden, but I never would have guessed that this toxic plant could be edible.) Yet, it's true: the young buds are consumed pickled. Marsh marigold is gathered starting in early May, with the best time for pickling being the last ten days of May.

Here's how to prepare a fresh marsh marigold salad: it's boiled, then soaked in water for 10 hours, with the water changed frequently. The plant is then squeezed dry and placed in a dish, dressed with fried onions, a little sugar, pepper, garlic, and soy sauce.

CAUTION! This plant is poisonous. Do not attempt to prepare it yourself unless you have expert knowledge of the proper preparation methods!