Birthday Soup aka Seaweed Soup
Recipe from Susan Kim
Birthday soup is seaweed soup for Koreans: Miyeok-guk. It’s given to new mothers in the hospital
because there’s a strong belief in the nutritional healing powers of seaweed. When I was growing
up, my mom made it for me every birthday. The seaweed she used would be a mix of silky, slurpy,
delicate strands mixed with thicker, tougher, chewier pieces . . . I think it’s a metaphor for our people!
10 mins
1 hour
4-6
What You'll Need
Ingredients
- One 6-inch piece kombu
- 1 cup dried shiitake mushrooms
- 3 to 4 pieces dried fatty anchovies
- 1 pound Manila clams or cockles (or both!)
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 jalapeño pepper, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup fresh wakame seaweed
- 1 tray sea urchin (optional)
Directions
Step 1
In a pot, make the dashi stock by combining the kombu, shiitakes, dried anchovies, and 8 cups water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and let simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool down. Strain the anchovy broth and discard the solids.
Step 2
Wash the clams and place them in a large bowl. Cover them with cold water, then rinse and agitate the clams—really shake it up. Repeat this process with clean cold water until no visible amount of sand is at the bottom of the bowl. Keep the cleaned clams in the refrigerator until ready to cook.
Step 3
In a pot, bring 6 cups of the anchovy broth to a boil. Season the broth with 1 tablespoon of the fish sauce and 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce. Add the sliced jalapeño and clams, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for 1 minute. Lift the lid to check. The soup is ready when all the clams have opened, about 5 minutes. Discard any clams that have not opened.
Step 4
Add the wakame seaweed. Ladle the soup into bowls. Drape a few pieces of sea urchin onto each bowl, if using.
Susan Kim
Susan Kim is the founder of Doshi, a traveling food pop-up inspired by Korean home cooking. Despite Susan’s classical culinary training (from the likes of Chez Panisse), her approach is untraditional and unfussy, which ultimately results in dishes that will have you redefining what you consider to be authentic.
