A summertime seaweed soup
I spent a bit of time debating the title of this post. You see, to me, the image it evokes is immediately nostalgic and tasty, yet I can see how someone who is unfamiliar with this dish would read it and think “WTF?!” to themselves. I mean, even the more well known warm broth which is the winter sister to this still manages to get a hesitant reception when its placed in front of people who are yet to overcome the mental block of eating seaweed.
Having grown up with the stuff, I guess I can’t see what the hang-up is. Seaweed has many health benefits and is actually quite mild in flavour as far as vegetables go (not having grown up with rocket, the first time I tasted it I actually spat it out, though I love it now!), and people seem to have no problem chowing down on sushi, which is essentially a seaweed wrap! So, why the hang-up with seaweed broth?
Personally, I believe its in the presentation - sheets of nori may smell and taste like seaweed, but dried into sleek, shiny sheets of black, they appear inoffensive and are really only secondary to the vast array of fillings on offer therefore the taste is not distinguished or set apart. However, in a soup, the leaves of seaweed happily swimming in the clear broth may remind some people a bit too much of staring into the open ocean with a spoon…
Well, that’s purely speculation on my part - what do you think?
A word of warning about this particular dish - those who don’t like strong vinegar or seaweed flavours are advised to keep clear - this dish celebrates both these elements so if you’re sensitive to either (or both) flavours, this cold broth is likely to punch you out cold. However, if you’re like me and you loooooove sweet, vinegary things and love anything that comes from the ocean, then I’d advise that you make this as soon as the weather is warm enough to permit a cold soup. This is one of the most refreshing summer dishes I know of, and all the members of my family are happy to down a large bowlful for any meal during the hot & humid days of summer. While the seaweed and the vinegar provide the cooling elements of the dish, the chilli and the garlic arrive with flags waving as the aftertaste of this dish, balancing the cold with their heat and pungency.
As my mother puts it perfectly - this dish is all about a balancing act. It should leave you feeling refreshed but not cold, full but not heavy, fill your mouth with flavour but also help to ‘cleanse’ the palate. Now how many dishes do you know of that attempt (usually quite successfully) to do all that?
I’m not going to go as far as to say this miraculous-sounding cold broth is going to cure cancer, but if you’re looking for a different, refreshing dish to try in the heat of summer, then may I suggest you give this a shot? 
Miyeok Naeng-guk
(Cold Seaweed Broth)
Ingredients
3L cold water
3 tbsp salt
5 tbsp caster sugar
1 cup white/rice vinegar
8-10 cloves of garlic, crushed
1-2 tbsp gochugaru (Korean crushed red pepper)
450g miyeok (Korean dried soup seaweed)
1 pinch of salt
1 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp white/rice vinegar
1 medium sweet thin-skinned cucumber, julienned
Toasted sesame seeds, to serve
1. Bring 3L of water to a boil in a large pot, then turn off the heat and add the salt and sugar, stirring till completely dissolved. Add the vinegar, garlic and crushed red pepper to the pot and stir, then pour into a non-reactive container and transfer to your fridge and leave till completely cool.
2. While the seasoned water is cooling, put the seaweed in a large bowl and cover completely with cold water till submerged and leave for 5-15 minutes or till the seaweed is completely rehydrated. Strain out all the excess water, then put the strained seaweed in a bowl and add a pinch of salt, 1 tbsp caster sugar and 2 tbsp vinegar and massage well so that the seaweed is evenly seasoned. Put into an airtight container into the fridge.
3. Once the seasoned water has completely cooled, remove it from the fridge and add the seasoned seaweed to the pot. Give it a good stir and taste it - if it is too vinegary then add a little sugar to help lighten it, or if its not vinegary enough then add a little more vinegar (incidentally, this is meant to be somewhat vinegary as opposed to sweet or salty). Once you’ve achieved the flavour balance that seems OK to your tastebuds, stir in the julienned cucumber and store in the fridge to be enjoyed as you please!
Technorati Tags: sea mustard, seaweed, miyeok, summer soup, Korean cuisine, recipes, Asian cooking
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Comments
Linda Growing up in an Asian home, I’m pretty accustomed to strong vinegary and seaweedy flavours, so this soup sounds good to me!
Ellie Lynn - I can understand that Having grown up with it, its a food I love and adore, but there are plenty of foods in western cuisine that I’ve only recently been introduced to that I’m still wrapping my head around! Beetroot and rhubarb being two of these…
Linda - Woohoo! Fellow seaweed lovers, unite!
Justin three words for you lady
LOVE YOUR BLOG! Keep up the great work on your korean recipes, I made four of them already and they have been big successes. Have looked for a long time for korean recipes but always ended up let down due to the recipes being interpretations and not authentic.
Thanks again! Keep posting more recipes 
Ellie Justin - Thank you so much for the lovely compliment I’m really glad that you’ve had success with the recipes on this blog, and I hope that any that you try in the future will continue to make you happy
Cindy - Hehehe, thanks hon
annoyedwabbit This soup (and its warm counterpart) look tasty and intriguing. Today I went to my local Asian market, looking for gochugaru and miyeok, and found the first, but not the second. The market is run by Chinese and they seem to have mostly Chinese and Japanese foods, so they have wakame up the wazoo. Could I substitute wakame for the miyeok, or are they different?
If all else fails, I’ll just drive a bit further and go to the other Asian market, which I’m pretty sure is run b Koreans. Was feeling too lazy to do that today, though. (California is grey and rainy today. Good weather for hot soup and baking, but not driving)
Ellie AnnoyedWabbit - Sorry about the late reply! Just because I can’t see what kind of wakame you’re looking to buy, I’d suggest holding out till you can get a hold of some dried miyeok :/ the reason for that is that wakame can be bought in a few different preparations and I couldn’t say what you’d be looking for :/
ZenKimchi Naeng MiyeokGuk is one of my most absolute favorites. Other than maki roll sushi, I think it’s the best starter for anyone just learning to like seaweed. I think the hang ups on seaweed come from visions of the dirty bracken that washes on beaches. This stuff is clean and is just a plant, like spinach. It’s not algae.I wish someone could just bottle the sweet broth up and sell it next to Gatorade. That and NaengMyeon broth. Oooohh…..
Ellie ZenKimchi - I think that the biggest hangup for seaweed is the texture more than anything else - admittedly, the slightly slimy/rubbery crunch that comes from the thicker pieces takes some getting used to if you’ve not had it before
I’m one of those who’s hung up on seaweed. It’s still in the "euwww" category of foods for me. My son spent 6 months in Japan and nearly starved to death as he doesn’t eat seafood, either.