The first time I had the Korean seaweed soup with beef was back in college. A friend of mine who is ethnic Koreans in China, took us to a Korean restaurant nearby our university to celebrate her 20th birthday.
She told us there is a tradition to eat seaweed soup on birthdays, so we ordered the seaweed soup to share. That was my first time having this dish, I instantly fell in love with it and has been a fan since.
To make this dish, we’ll need a type of seaweed called miyeok (or wakeme seaweed). It’s different from the roasted seaweed used to wrap sushi.
Miyeok is normally dried and requires soaking in water to rehydrate before cooking. Here is the miyeok (Amazon link) I used for this dish. You could also find similar products in most Asian grocery stores.
Seaweed tastes rather bland by itself, doesn’t really add to the flavor of the dish. Flavor of the dish generally comes from the broth and seasonings. Just about any broth you can think of can work.
But the most common broth for a seaweed soup would be beef or anchovy. This time, I made a seaweed soup with ground beef broth, seasoned with minced garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil and soybean paste.
Seaweed soup has many health benefits. It is a good source of calcium, iron and high in iodine.
I want to share this high-in-nutrients and low-in-calories dish with you to enjoy it year round. Below is an overview of how I made this seaweed soup with ground beef broth.
Here is the recipe, if you like it, please leave a rating and share it with your friends!
- ¼ cup dried seaweed
- ¼ cup ground beef
- 4 cups water
- 1 tablespoon grated garlic
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon soybean sauce
- a touch of white pepper
- a touch of salt to taste
- 1 stalk green onion, chopped for topping
- a handful of roasted sesame seeds for topping
- Soak dried seaweed under water for about 20 minutes to rehydrate, drain well and set aside.
- Mix garlic, soy sauce with the ground beef, set aside.
- Heat sesame oil in a skillet, stir in the seasoned ground beef, sauté under low heat for 1-2 minutes until changed color.
- Add in the hydrated seaweeds, stir fry for 2-3 minutes.
- Pour in 4 cups of water, mix well, turn to high heat and cook for about 5 minutes with lid on.
- Add in soybean paste, stir to mix well and simmer for about 20 minutes under low heat with lid on.
- Toss in white pepper and salt to taste.
- Top with roasted sesame seeds and green onion to serve.
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