Seaweed soup, aka Milk Gook in Korea, is eaten postpartum to produce breastmilk as well as for postpartum recovery.
It’s also considered a birthday soup, and we eat this on our birthdays to honor our moms who gave birth to us. I love when food holds meaning to an entire culture, it’s very special.
This is a simple recipe that is healing and healthy that comes together so easily. It’s a must-try!
Seaweed Soup
Ingredients
- 7 cups water for soup
- 2 cups brown seaweed/wakame volume after it’s soaked in water https://amzn.to/3HZ2wlL
- 2 TBSP Sesame oil
- 2 TBSP Korean Soy Sauce (for soup) – Gukganjang (국간장). https://amzn.to/3UmUYR8
- 1 can tuna or 1/2 lb stew beef diced
Directions
- Soak the dried miyeok in about 5 C of cold water for about 3o-40 min until entirely soft and rehydrated. If you can’t weigh 1 oz of dried miyeok (let’s face it, how many of us have a kitchen scale and dried miyeok don’t come in 1 oz packages..), eyeball it – it is roughly 3 thin pieces (left one in the “compared” image) about the size of my hand or two thicker pieces (right one). It’s fine to have less or more milk in your soup, so it’s OK if it’s not the exact amount.
- Drain the water from the miyeok and cut with scissors so the pieces are not too long.
- Heat sesame oil in a pot on medium-high heat. Add miyeok and stir fry in sesame oil for 3-5 min.
- Add 7 cup water, salt, and Korean soy sauce to the pot. Stir the soup and bring to a boil. Once it starts to boil, lower the heat to medium and let it cook for 20-30 min. Make sure you taste the soup to see if it’s salty enough. Add more salt or soy sauce to taste.
