Korean · soup

Miyeok Guk (Seaweed Soup)

Miyeok Guk (Seaweed Soup) reads umami 7.9, salinity 6.5 and funk & ferment 6.4 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Korean soup, about 1 hr 26 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 7.9 · Salinity 6.5 · Funk & Ferment 6.4 · Richness 5.1 · Marine & Briny 5.1 · Allium 4.1 · Nutty 4.0 · Earthy 1.4 · Warm Spice 0.9 · Sweetness 0.9 · Sourness 0.8 · Bitterness 0.7 · Herbaceous 0.6

What's in it (10)

Time & effort: about 1 hr 26 min (56 min active) · effort: medium

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 17.4 kcal, 1.6 g protein, 1.1 g fat, 0.3 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains seafood — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (5 steps)

  1. Soak the dried miyeok in the litre of cold water for 20 to 30 minutes. It expands to eight or ten times its dry volume, so use a big bowl and do not be tempted to use more than 30 g. Rinse it in two changes of water, squeeze out, and cut it into 5 cm lengths.
  2. Heat the sesame oil in a heavy pot over medium heat and stir-fry the beef 3 to 4 minutes, until it is grey all over and smells nutty from the oil. Add the drained miyeok and the garlic and keep stir-frying for 4 to 5 minutes more. This frying step is the one that matters: the seaweed goes from squeaky to slippery, its colour deepens, and it releases the sea flavour into the fat before any water arrives. Miyeok dropped straight into boiling water gives a thin, marine, faintly grassy soup.
  3. Add the guk-ganjang and stir for 30 seconds, then pour in the 1.5 L of water and bring to a boil. Skim once.
  4. Simmer, half covered, for 30 to 40 minutes. The soup is right when the broth has gone slightly cloudy and milky rather than clear, the seaweed is completely soft, and the beef gives to a spoon. Season with the anchovy sauce and salt at the end.
  5. Serve very hot in individual bowls with sesame seeds scattered on top, and rice on the side to be tipped into the bowl. This is what Koreans eat on their birthday, and what a woman is given every day for weeks after giving birth, which is the origin of the birthday custom; it is also an ordinary weekday soup with nothing ceremonial about it. A version without beef, using mussels or dried anchovy broth, is common on the coast.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.