It was my birthday recently and my first one in Bangkok. Normally I would start with a lunch celebration followed by afternoon tea with friends in Singapore but I felt a bit alone. We moved here 3 months ago and my new friends here were all away. On top of that, my husband was having lunch with a work colleague. At least he was taking me out for dinner.
When I was about 10 years old, my family forgot that it was my birthday. I was still in Korea at the time and I was supposed to have seaweed soup (미역국 -mi yeok guk) with my breakfast. It’s a Korean tradition. But this time….no seaweed soup…I remember it was quite traumatic. Now I make sure to make my own seaweed soup every year.
It’s a tradition to have seaweed soup on birthdays in Korea. When women give birth, they are given the seaweed soup with mussels to encourage fast recovery. Apparently the best seaweed is meant to be purchased and you must never ask for a discount as this can bring bad luck. Interesting…
You can either have beef or mussel seaweed soup. I like mussel better than beef seaweed soup but today all I could find was frozen mussels in Bangkok. My future mission is to find a fresh mussel supplier in Bangkok!
Unlike other Korean soup which can take hours to braise, this soup only takes about 30 minutes.
Beef Seaweed Soup – 미역국
Serves 2 people
- 10g dried seaweed (different to tossed seaweed – see picture below) or 100g dried mussels(100g)
- 1 tsp of minced garlic
- 1 tsp of soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 100 g beef for soup (I used chuck steak)
- some salt for seasoning
- 5 cups of water
Soak the seaweed in warm water for 10 minutes.
Wash the seaweed in cold water and cut them to around 5cm lengths. Drain all the water from the seaweed and set aside.
Chop the peeled garlic and mince it finely. Trim the fat from the beef and slice into 2 cm lengths.
In a medium pot, add 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and fry the garlic on medium heat for about 1 minute. Add the seaweed to the pot and fry for about 5 minutes. Finally, add the beef and fry until it is cooked.
Add 4 cups of water and boil for a few minutes and then simmer for a further 20 minutes. Add another cup of water to enhance the flavour. Season with salt and soy sauce to your taste.
Serve it with steamed rice and any of your favourite side dishes.