Miyeok-guk

Miyeok-guk[1] (미역국) or seaweed soup[1] is a Korean soup whose main ingredient is miyeok, or seaweed.

Miyeok-guk
Alternative namesSeaweed soup
TypeGuk
Place of originKorea
Main ingredientsBrown seaweed or Wakame
Korean name
Hangul
미역국
Revised Romanizationmiyeok-guk
McCune–Reischauermiyŏk-kuk
IPA[mi.jʌk̚.k͈uk̚]

Ingredients

Miyeok-guk ingredients typically include a mussel based broth, anchovy, beef, clams or oysters, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, onions, scallions, salt, roasted sesame seeds, and dried or pickled shrimps.

Preparation

To prepare miyeok-guk, dried miyeok is soaked in cold water until soft. It is then washed and boiled in an anchovy or mussel stock with shellfish or beef, and lastly seasoned with soy sauce, minced garlic and sesame oil.

Culture

Miyeok-guk is traditionally consumed by Korean women after giving birth. Miyeok is rich in calcium and iodine, nutrients that in the Korean culture are believed to be important for pregnant and/or nursing mothers.[2] Miyeok-guk is traditionally eaten for breakfast on birthdays, as a celebration of one's mother. As part of birthday celebrations, guests are served miyeok-guk along with rice cakes and other traditional foods. Miyeok-guk is also eaten outside of special occasions during the rest of the year. It is a very common side dish served with rice.

Health benefits

Seaweed is a good source of vitamin K, an essential vitamin, which is an important factor in blood-clotting. Eating miyeok-guk that contains a cup of seaweed enables one to absorb around 22% of the recommended daily vitamin K requirement for women and 29% of the recommended daily vitamin K requirement for men.

The word 'I ate seaweed soup' has two meanings. One is birthday, and the other means 'I failed the exam'. Although there is no scientific basis, it is said that slippery seaweed causes an association of 'slipping' and 'falling'.[3] Also, in a dictionary published by the Hangeul Society in 1957, "Eating Miyeok-guk(seaweed soup)" was defined as "a word that means an organization dissolves or falls apart." This is believed to have originated from the fact that when the Joseon army was disbanded, it could not express it directly and said, "I ate Miyeok-guk(seaweed soup)."[4]

See also

References
  1. (in Korean) "주요 한식명(200개) 로마자 표기 및 번역(영, 중, 일) 표준안" [Standardized Romanizations and Translations (English, Chinese, and Japanese) of (200) Major Korean Dishes] (PDF). National Institute of Korean Language. 2014-07-30. Retrieved 2017-02-16.
  2. (in Korean) Miyeokguk at Doosan Encyclopedia
  3. "미역국". terms.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2021-04-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. 김, 준 광주전남연구원 책임연구원 (2021-04-23). "실패의 상징 `미역국 먹었다`, 구한말 군대 강제해산 자조적 표현에서 유래". 영남일보 (in Korean). Retrieved 2021-05-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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