Miyeokguk (Korean Seaweed Soup): An Everyday Korean Meal and a Traditional Food for Birthdays and New Mothers

Today I had miyeokguk, Korean seaweed soup. It is one of those very familiar home-style soups for Koreans. The sesame oil gives the soup a pleasant nutty aroma, and adding ground perilla seeds makes the broth thicker, richer, and even more savory.

Miyeokguk also varies depending on the region and the family making it. Beef is probably the version most people think of first, and when I lived in Seoul, beef miyeokguk was the type I saw most often. In Gyeongsangbuk-do and Gyeongsangnam-do, however, I have also seen miyeokguk made with flatfish. Coastal regions of Korea have their own seafood versions as well.

Years ago, when I visited Gangwon-do, I even saw miyeokguk made with sea urchin roe. Sea urchin itself was expensive, and the broth was fairly light, so personally I was not sure whether I liked it enough for the price. Thinking about it now, I also remember seeing miyeokguk made with mussels a long time ago. This is one of those Korean soups that can change quite a lot depending on where you eat it and what ingredients are locally available.

In Korea, miyeokguk has a meaning that goes beyond being an everyday soup. Traditionally, one of the first meals served to a mother after childbirth was white rice and miyeokguk. In older Korean customs, food connected with rice and seaweed was also offered to Samsin, the traditional guardian deities associated with childbirth and newborn babies.

Seaweed has long been regarded in Korea as an appropriate food for mothers recovering after childbirth. Miyeok contains minerals such as calcium and iodine, and it became strongly associated with postpartum meals. Even today, many Korean mothers eat miyeokguk repeatedly during the period after giving birth.

Because miyeokguk was so closely connected with the day a person was born, it eventually became a symbolic food for birthdays as well. This is why Koreans traditionally eat miyeokguk on their birthday. It is not only a way to celebrate being born, but also a way of remembering the mother who gave birth to and raised them.

These days, of course, not every Korean prepares a traditional birthday table at home. Many people go out to restaurants or simply eat whatever they like on their birthday. Still, I think there are plenty of Korean families that serve at least a bowl of miyeokguk in the morning. If you watch Korean dramas, you may also notice characters eating miyeokguk on their birthdays. For Koreans, just seeing the soup in that situation immediately suggests a birthday.

I once saw someone describe seaweed from a foreigner's point of view as something like “weeds from the sea.” I do not know how commonly people actually think that way, but I can understand why seaweed soup might look unusual to someone who did not grow up eating it. Maybe it would feel a little like picking grass from a lawn and making soup with it.

A thick miyeokguk made with ground perilla seeds loses much of the distinctive ocean aroma of the seaweed because the nutty flavor of the perilla becomes quite strong. On the other hand, a simpler miyeokguk seasoned with soup soy sauce and a little sesame oil allows you to taste and smell the seaweed much more clearly.

For someone trying Korean food for the first time, that flavor may be unfamiliar, but for Koreans it is a very ordinary and comforting taste. Miyeok itself is usually sold dried, soaked in water before cooking, and then simmered until it becomes soft.

In the photo, I ate miyeokguk with kimchi fried rice, but honestly, this is not a typical Korean combination at all. It is almost a mismatched meal. Kimchi fried rice has a very strong, spicy, seasoned flavor, while miyeokguk is usually much milder, so the two flavors do not necessarily complement each other.

Most Koreans would naturally eat miyeokguk with plain steamed white rice. I only ate it this way because I had some leftover miyeokguk at home and also happened to have kimchi fried rice.

For Koreans, miyeokguk can be more than just seaweed boiled in broth. It can remind us of our mother's home cooking, birthday mornings, and meals we grew up eating. For older generations in particular, perhaps it also carries memories of times when Korea was much poorer and a birthday meal itself felt special. A warm bowl of miyeokguk may have been one small way of feeling that happiness.

How to Make Simple Perilla Seed Miyeokguk

If you want to try making miyeokguk at home, this is a simple version using ground perilla seeds. This recipe is based on a popular perilla seed miyeokguk recipe from the Korean cooking site 10000 Recipe. It makes about four servings and takes roughly 15 minutes once the seaweed has been soaked.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup soaked seaweed
• 4 tablespoons ground perilla seeds
• 2 tablespoons perilla oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Korean soup soy sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
• 5 cups water
• Salt to taste

Instructions

1. Place the soaked seaweed in a pot. If you are starting with dried seaweed, soak it in water first until it expands and becomes soft, then drain it.
2. Add 2 tablespoons of perilla oil and stir-fry the seaweed for a short time over medium heat.
3. Add 5 cups of water and 1 1/2 tablespoons of Korean soup soy sauce. Bring it to a boil over high heat, then reduce to medium heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.
4. Add the ground perilla seeds and minced garlic. Simmer for another 5 minutes.
5. Taste the soup and add salt if necessary. Serve hot with plain steamed rice.

This version does not use beef, so the nutty flavor of the perilla seeds is especially noticeable. If you prefer the more familiar beef miyeokguk, beef can also be stir-fried with sesame oil before adding the seaweed and water.