Korean Seaweed Soup (Miyeok Guk) for KJ.

The other day one of my Korean friend, KJ, had her birthday. My sister KL and I had no idea what we should give her. She just got back from Korea, so probably she has everything she needs and wants. I can't bake her a cake because I know that her roommate, HJ, will get her an awesome cake. So what can she possibly need/want for her birthday... Then I remembered something. OF COURSE! Seaweed soup! I watched it SO many times in Korean dramas: Koreans always have seaweed soup for their birthday.

In the beginning I was a little bit unsure because I've never made it before. But I really want to try and I know that it'll definitely make her happy. So firstly I googled a recipe and this is where I found my recipe: Brown Seaweed Soup (thank you so much Sue!). Then I dig into my fridge to see if I have everything I need and... TADAA! I do! So here is the recipe and how I made it.

Ingredients (enough for 3-4 servings, ready in 15 – 20 minutes)

• 35g dried brown seaweed (Miyeok)
• 70g sliced beef shank
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 3 tbsp soy sauce (I used Kikoman brand)
• 1 tbsp Korean sesame oil
• 4 cups water
• 1/2 tbsp sesame oil and 3 sprinkles ground black pepper – to season the meat

Above is the basic ingredients listed from the blog I found. But since I didn't really measure my ingredients for the exact amounts, I just eye-balled it and I added a few more seasonings on it. For example, I added Mirin to tenderize and make the meat tastes "sweeter".

So firstly I soaked the seaweed in cold water for about 5 minutes. Then once it opened up and loosened I cut them into smaller pieces with scissors.

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While waiting for the seaweed to be ready, I cut the meat into smaller pieces and seasoned it with sesame oil, ground pepper and Mirin. After both the seaweed and the beef are ready, I heat up my saucepan for 30 seconds then add a table spoon of sesame oil, the seaweed and the meat, then stir it for 2-3 minutes.

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After stirring for 2-3 minutes I added water. (Basically I just made sure that everything in the saucepan is covered with water.) Then you start with boiling it with medium heat until the meat cooks.

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Then I add soy sauce, garlic, salt, more Mirin and more sesame oil. In this part I think you just have to adjust it according to your taste.

©paulimanjaya2011.

You can replace the meat with clams, I think for clams you just have to boil them until it opens and you can actually use the water that you use to boil the clams as the soup base (which will make it taste even better!).

I hope this post will give you an idea how to make Miyeok Guk. I think this soup is pretty easy to make, so I believe that you can make it yourself at home and make someone (most likely a Korean I suppose) feel cherished on their birthday.

Please let me know what y'all think! Enjoy :)

생일 축하해 KJ!