How To Make Mi-yeok-guk (Seaweed Soup)
by Richardson ~ September 10th, 2007. Filed under: Korean Culture, Korean Language.Mi-yeok-guk (미역국), or seaweed soup, can be eaten anytime, but is also a traditional food for new Korean mothers. As some of you may remember, our home welcomed a new addition in July (eight weeks ago today, in fact!), and as my Mother-in-law was unable to make the trip, I became fairly proficient at making mi-yeok-guk. Our pastor’s wife showed me how to cook it, but my wife now prefers mine, which is ironic since I personally don’t care for mi-yeok-guk.
Ingredients:
Below on the left is a 5oz (143g) bag of the main ingredient, dried seaweed. A similar product should be available at most Korean markets. The white oval near the top says, “san-mo-yong” (산모용), or “for the use of a woman who has just had a child” (I know that’s a long translation for three syllables, but that’s how it works out; see 산모 and 용 [from 사용]). The same seaweed is used for making mi-yeok-guk anytime – there are no hormones or other special qualities aside from high iron and vitamin content.
The bag on the right is ta-shi-ma (다시마), a sort of kelp used for flavoring, but is optional.
At a minimum you’ll also need sesame oil (참기름) and soy sauce for soups (국간장):
More optional items are beef (usually stew beef), garlic puree (다진마늘), and nuts. Nuts? Yes, nuts. A handful or two of the nut of your choice - cashews in this case - liquefied in the blender adds a bit of flavor and protein.
Processing:
Since my wife was eating this soup three times a day for several weeks, we made a lot at one time, so you’ll very likely need to adjust down all these amount. First, we used the entire bag of seaweed. 5 oz doesn’t sound like much when it’s in this state:
But when it’s been re-hydrated in a container with cool water for 5-10 minutes, the volume increases a several times:
Once hydrated, the seaweed needs to be thoroughly rinsed. I suggest putting a few handfuls at a time into a strainer and letting it drain well before moving to the cutting board. Re-hydrate and rinse a few pieces of the kelp in the same way:
Cutting the seaweed makes it much easier to eat. I wouldn’t mince it, but give it several cuts from either direction before transferring it to the cooking pot. You can use scissors, but I find a knife and cutting board more convenient:
[[[ Update: I forgot to mention in the original post that if you get to this point and find you have too much seaweed prepared, just freeze the excess to use later;
End update. ]]]
For this amount of soup I used a 6 qt (5.6L) pan, which ends up just under half full of seaweed using the entire 5 oz package (more when hydrated). Put the kelp in with the rest at this time:
Cooking:
For this amount of soup I use 6 tablespoons (1 tablespoon = 15 ml) of sesame oil and a like amount of soy sauce. Note: hold the water! The first step of cooking the seaweed is to lightly scorch it, stirring well a once or twice a minute. It takes at least 15 minutes to scorch this much seaweed, so smaller amounts will take less time:
The next step is to add water. While the scorching is going on, I usually have another pot or kettle bringing water to a boil. Once the seaweed is scorched, add the water and bring to a rolling boil. Don’t fill it all the way up as you can add more water later.
At this time you can add a tablespoon of garlic and the liquefied nuts. We don’t use any beef in ours, but if you do this is the time to add it. For this amount, simmer for about 20 minutes; less for smaller amounts.
After it’s done taste it for saltiness; if it’s too salty just add water, not salty enough add a little more soy sauce. That it, you’ve not got several liters of mi-yeok-guk!
There are of course several recipes out there, including this one fro “Brown Seaweed Soup” at My Korean Kitchen, and I think most you can play fast and loose with ingredients.
Enjoy!
September 10th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
boil water add salt.
lol
but seriously, the word “seaweed” isn’t too appetizing.
September 11th, 2007 at 6:36 am
Yeah, it’s simple, but I guess most soups are about the same; boil water, add salt and a few other flavorings, throw in the item that will name the soup.
“Seaweed” is just plain bad advertising. How about “Soylent Green”? Has a nice ring to it, and somehow seems familiar…
September 11th, 2007 at 8:25 am
I had the urge to go down to my local Koreantown here in Bergen County, NJ and seeing that pic has just pushed me over the edge. Seaweed is just fine, to use a another term is basically Americanizing the dish, which is why Korean food is still a mystery in this country, because unlike Chinese it cannot be Americanized.
September 11th, 2007 at 8:42 am
I’ve seen kimbap with cheese and pepperoni, but prefer the real thing as well (dried seaweed is fine, IMO). I’m partial to dwean-jang-chi-gae.
September 11th, 2007 at 10:17 am
“I’ve seen kimbap with cheese and pepperoni”
Dear lord, I dont mind a little experimenting but since when died seaweed and cheese go together. Wait till they start using kimchi as a hot dog topping at Yankee Stadium.
September 11th, 2007 at 10:18 am
If I didnt know any better, I would think you were trying to make the creamed spinich from Boston Market.
September 11th, 2007 at 11:37 am
I love miyeokguk! Adding the nuts is an interesting variation. I’ll have to try that. If you go to the trouble of pulsing nuts, why don’t you mince your own fresh garlic, too? The beneficial sulfur compounds in garlic can be damaged by improper handling. To maximize absorbtion of healthful sulfur compounds, mince or chop the garlic finely, and let it sit for ten minutes before using. The process of mincing or chopping activates enzymes that chemically change the sulfur to make it more bioavailable. Your body can do it, too, but it’s more effective if you let the garlic’s own enzymes work to partially digest the garlic for you. If you let the minced garlic sit for ten minutes, the resulting sulfur compounds are fairly stable and can withstand light cooking. The “chop and let the enzymes do their stuff” rule works for onions, leeks, broccoli, cabbage, and most sulfurous vegetables.
September 11th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
Lawrence,
It’d probably be worth taping (from a spray-safe distance) someone who thought they were taking a spoonful of creamed spinach, only to get a mouthful of mi-yeok-guk.
Sonagi,
The first time I added nuts I misunderstood sa-mo-nim and added an entire bag, about 5 times what you see in the pic - evidently still edible, though. Just enough for a little flavor is what you want. I used about two handfulls of nuts [looks like more as I put a bit of water in with them] for ~5 L of soup. Might try almonds next time.
We’ve the jar of garlic for general Korean cooking, so I just used that. We’ll probably be making one more large batch of mi-yeok-guk, and will throw some garlic in the blender then. I had no idea the garlic would be much more nutritious if fresh.
Again, I don’t care for mi-yeok-guk, but it’s something fairly easy I can do for my wife.
September 11th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
kimbap with cheese and pepperoni !!!
good lord.. that just seems unholy… i must try it..
well i do enjoy roast beef slices and provologne in my ramen.
and seaweed is in of itself an english terminolgy.. it’s what english speaking people chose to call it.. if other people choose to call it by any other name, it wouldn’t be americanizing it any more or less.
September 11th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
I saw the cheese and pepperoni kimbap, but didn’t try it. I think I have had kimchi kimbap with some cheese - it was ok but a little strange.
Beef and cheese in ramyun sounds like a close cousin of bu-dae-chi-gae.
September 11th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
Mmmmm, sounds tasty. I might try it. I never tried Korean food before, but a lot of it looks pretty good.
September 11th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
what?
you don’t care for mi-yuk-goeuk?
i am outta here and never visiting your blog again!!
j/k
i obviously need you more than me…..
great job on seaweed soup. definitely worth blogging.
you might not care for it….he he….but i do sense a bit of pride that your wife prefers yours.
September 11th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
Jack,
Let me know when you’ve decided to get some Korean food and I’ll make some suggestions.
jkm,
Hey, but I love most Korean food!
Some pride, but an odd sort since I’ve never even tasted the product!
September 11th, 2007 at 8:04 pm
I live in the Southwestern US and Korean ingredients may not be too plentiful. However, Koreatown is in LA and about 3 hours away. I may go down there to try some of the food and take in some culture.
September 11th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
Is there any way you can password protect this post from my wife?
September 12th, 2007 at 9:41 am
Joshua,
You mean I shouldn’t have printed/mailed that to your home?
Don’t worry, if she makes the amount we did it should only last for about 25-30 servings!
September 12th, 2007 at 10:12 pm
The odor I can survive. The taste I don’t mind. I’m worried about being on the wrong side of an unfavorable comparison: doting husband (you) vs. insensitive culinary incompetent (me).