jma.rked- the gyopo wife life : birthday soup: 미역국.seaweed soup

    because my korean husband and his family are so korean, he follows the lunar calendar to mark the celebration date of his birth. this means his birthday changes every year. last year it was actually on the same day as mine and i thought it was so great at first. but no, sharing your birthday means not being able to be mrs. bossy pants.
    this year, today (oct. 8) my hubby doesn't get any wonderful birthday surprises or anything because i'm sick. but with the heart of gold that i have, i dragged my butt out of my nest of fluffy pillows, cozy blankets, and two hot packs (aka jimmy and kevin), and decided that the least i could do was to make him some birthday soup also known as mi-yuk gook 미역국.
    korean people eat mi-yuk gook on their birthdays to remember that their mothers gave them life on this day. in korea, after you give birth, mother's eat a lot of mi-yuk gook for their health, believing it will restore the blood they lost during labor.
   mi-yuk gook is super easy to make. you only need a few ingredients and there's almost no work involved. this is my kind of cooking. there are lots of variants you can put into the mi-yuk gook. i've seen chicken, beef, and oysters or other shellfish. since we have beef at home, and i feel too disgusting to go outside, i decided to make beef mi-yuk gook.

1. ingredients

1. 20g (3/4 Cup) of dried seaweed (i used the pre-cut kind) 2. 3 spoons of sesame oil 3. 2 spoons of "gook" soy sauce** 4. 2 spoons of perilla powder 5. salt to your liking 6. 1 spoon of minced garlic

*a spoon is referring to a adult-sized spoon

**gook soy sauce or 국간장 isn't as salty as normal soy sauce

2. soak the dried seaweed in cold water for about 30 minutes

*20g doesn't look like a lot, but you have to remember to put it in a bowl big enough because the seaweed will expand 8-10x its original amount.

3. prepare the meat

*the recipe i followed called for 2 spoons of chung-ju or rice wine to add over the meat. i didn't have any so i just didn't do it. i laid paper towel into the dish and put the meat on top. i pressed down on the meat to get rid of an excess water/blood

4. rinse the seaweed and squeeze out the excess water

*use two hands to really get all that water out!

5. in a pot over medium-high heat, add 2 spoons of sesame oil, and fry the meat

6. once the meat is half cooked, add 1 more spoon of sesame oil, 1 spoon of minced garlic, and fry it for at least 3 minutes

7. add 4 1/2 cups of water, 2 spoons of gook ganjang (soy sauce), salt to your liking, and 2 spoons of perilla powder. let the soup come to a boil. lower the heat and let it cook for 15 or so minutes