In the postpartum, it is a Korean tradition to cook and serve Korean seaweed soup, Miyeok Guk미역국, to the new mother. Seaweed soup is packed full of nutrients to support healing after birth. You can also add a protein, such as beef or seafood, to the soup to make it even more dense with nutrients! Seaweed has a ton of surprising health benefits as well, such as:
- Contains Iodine and Tyrosine, Which Support Thyroid Function
- Good source of many vitamins and minerals including iron, manganese, copper, fiber, riboflavin, thiamin, small amounts of vitamins A, C, E, and K, along with folate, zinc, sodium, calcium, and magnesium.
- It is also a good source of omega-3 fats and vitamin B12.
- Contains antioxidants
- Contains fiber and polysaccharides to support gut health
Our mother is originally from South Korea and immigrated to the United States in the early 80’s. She brought a lot of her Korean customs and traditions with her to share with us as we grew up, and as we entered motherhood. We celebrate the 100-day celebration and 1-year birthday celebration in Korean fashion with plenty of Korean food, special games, and traditional Korean attire.
After we give birth, she cooks us Korean Seaweed Soup, known as Miyeok Guk, 미역국 in Korean, to help us replenish our nutrients after birth. Korean seaweed soup is high in iron and micronutrients, and the warm broth is believed to help with healing after birth. Korean culture (and many other Eastern cultures) believes that consuming warm foods after birth will help with the healing process, so our mom actively dissuades us from eating or drinking anything cold, including drinking cold water or eating ice cream.
1. Gather Your Ingredients
If you want to make seaweed soup, you’ll need:
- 6 oz dried seaweed
- 1 tbsp beef soup stock
- 2 tbsp salt
- 1 bulb of garlic
- 1 lb beef
- 2 qt water
- 1 tsp sesame oil
2. Soak Seaweed, Prep Beef, and Rinse Seaweed
After gathering your ingredients, you’ll need to soak the seaweed for about 20 minutes. Over the 20 minutes, it will expand and become very soft and flexible. As the seaweed is soaking, chop up the 1 pound of beef into small bite size pieces and set aside. After you are done soaking the seaweed and it has expanded fully, rinse several times. Once rinse, chop seaweed up into smaller pieces.
3. Cook Beef (or choice of protein)
Next, begin to heat a pot with some oil. When hot, add your beef and cook until brown. You can also add garlic as the beef is cooking.
4. Add Seaweed
After the beef is brown, add seaweed to pot and mix well. Then add 2 quarts of water, salt, and garlic if you did not add it previously to the hot. Cook on high until boiling and cover. After boiling for 5 minutes, add beef broth stock to the soup and then simmer for 20 minutes on low.
5. Bonus: Remove Foam for Improved Flavor!
As the soup is simmering, spoon off the light green foam and remove it from the soup. This will improve the flavor of the soup! You will have to do this periodically over the 20 minutes.
6. Enjoy!
After the soup is done simmering, serve into a bowl. Pour about a teaspoon or two of sesame oil onto the soup. Serve with a bowl of rice–and enjoy!
Our mother makes this in large batches for us after birth, and we love it! It is flavorful, but not overpowering, so you can enjoy the subtle flavors of this soup. The warmth of the soup is soothing after birth too! We hope you enjoy this recipe, and please let us know if you try it out!
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