Miyeok Juk – Korean Sea Vegetable Porridge

Why not serve something unconventional for Mother’s Day? Something with significance and meaning, albeit from another culture?

Miyeok (sea vegetables or seaweed) is a food/ingredient that evokes mothers or motherhood in Korea. In Korea, most postpartum women – maybe almost all – eat miyeok guk (seaweed soup). In fact, hospitals serve miyeok guk to postpartum women to replenish nutrients that may have been depleted during childbirth; and they continue to consume the soup during lactation due to its properties that are believed to stimulate lactation. So it’s apropos that it is traditionally served on birthdays as symbolism for the first food consumed after birth. Thus, it is also a food that connects the mother and child.

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Fried Rice with Sautéed Mushrooms and Crispy Prosciutto

I never order fried rice at restaurants.

When I was a kid, a friend told me that restaurants use customers’ unfinished rice in their fried rice. Day-old, cold rice is preferred over just-cooked, hot rice in fried rice. And if you cook it all up with other ingredients – as in fried rice – no one would be the wiser. So it seemed feasible. I really hope this was an urban legend; but I haven’t taken any chances.

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Prosciutto Kimchi Fried Rice

Kimchi fried rice is one of the most popular Korean dishes. It also is one of the easiest dishes to whip up, which is the reason why it is so popular as a midnight snack.

I had my share of kimchi fried rice as a college student in Northern California. After a night out or during an all-nighter studying for the finals, it was the perfect meal or snack. It also had the benefit of being cheap – important for a starving student!

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Ddukbokki (Spicy Rice Cakes) – The Ultimate Street Food

Ddukbokki is hands down my favorite street food. That’s saying a lot, considering the number of street foods available just in Korea.

When I was in fifth grade, my parents sent me and my brother to Korea to visit my grandparents. That was the last time I had totally authentic Korean street food. But I remember the taste of ddukbokki like it was yesterday. Since then, I had ddukbokki at many (some fancy) restaurants, but none compares to the simple, street-vendor-style ddukbokki I enjoyed so much as a little girl.

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Jaht Jook (Pine Nut Porridge)

My husband had some kind of a stomach bug. And he hadn’t been able to eat much of anything. I remembered whenever I had a stomach ache, my grandmother used to make me jook (porridge). I had some pine nuts on hand. And pine nuts are gluten-free and rich in nutrients; the hubs was really in need of some nutrients after 2 days of very little food. So I decided to make some jaht jook – pine nut porridge – a delicious, gluten-free, vegan dish.

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