Miyeokguk- Seaweed Soup (미육국)

One of the best things about meeting MJ is learning about different cultures- I remember how little I knew about Japanese and Korean culture just 10 years ago, how America-centric I was, kind of typical of most Americans, I suspect (and why there's been some unfortunate racial prejudice in this coronavirus debacle). I used to think that Koreans were just part of the Korean war, often got it mixed up with Vietnam of all places, couldn't even pick out Korea on a map (I thought they were somewhere southeast of China), and thought Korean BBQ was their most typical food (from eating in Koreatown). I highly recommend dating (or even marrying like I did!) a person from a different race, born in a different country, or just from a different background as yourself, as there is so much to learn. I used to have this weird notion that I would end up marrying a Chinese woman, maybe a Chinese American like myself, which was much too narrow-minded and closing myself off to other possibilities. Learning more about MJ has coincided with learning more about Korean culture, Korean holidays, Korean customs, and....Korean foods. They're all kind of connected really, as a lot of traditional Korean foods are eaten during holidays.

Miyeokguk is a seaweed soup that often also includes other ingredients like tofu or rice. It's very soothing and rich when cooked right, and Koreans say it has great health effects like replenishing blood and contains calcium. Koreans eat it on their birthday because Korean mothers ate it while giving birth, as well as after delivering the baby. (my mom had a similar concept of eating bamboo shoots when giving birth to me, which she reminds me every time I complain about having to eat bamboo shoots). The tradition of eating miyeokguk started back in the day when whales ate seaweed on the shore, and ancient Koreans started doing that for their own people, with apparently good effects. MJ's friend cooked some for her when she was in the hospital from her scooter accident, and I ended up having some.......so delicious. I wish I could cook some, and could give some to MJ for her birthday. However, it's not supposed to be eaten before tests because the slippery seaweed might cause the examinee to "slip" on the exam, or so the superstition goes.

Another traditional food that I'm interested in is "songpyeon," or a rice cake eaten on Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving. I like rice cake in general anyway, but apparently there are more than 200 types of rice cakes in Korean, even a songpyeon museum. Koreans make songpyeons like Chinese people make dumplings, sit around the table with family and friends and chat while making songpyeon (actually one of my favorite activities). Apparently making a beautiful songpyeon means you'll make a beautiful baby, again as the myth goes (no empirical evidence to back this up). I better get started learning how to make a beautiful songpyeon!

There's plenty of other Korean foods that have some interesting and enriching histories, like kimchi and samgyetang (fight fire with fire!). Korean food is not just Korean BBQ!

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan