[Home Cooking] Miyeok muchim (Seaweed salad)

Here’s a nice, refreshing summer side dish! Miyeok, also known as wakame, is an edible brown sea vegetable that is highly nutritious. Dried seaweed is a staple in Korean pantries and it is used to make soups and salads year round. In its fresh form, miyeok is brown. You may see brown fresh miyeok sold in markets. It turns green when blanched in boiling water. You can use fresh miyeok for this recipe. 

Once soaked, miyeok turns green, plump and is ready to be eaten. However, blanching it briefly in boiling hot water will slightly soften the texture and brighten its shade of green. It’s typical to add some cucumber slices as well as Korean radish (mu), carrot, and/or onion. The vegetables add a nice textural contrast and color. I used a cucumber and a couple of red radishes here. You can make this vinegary, sweet salad dish a little fancier by adding some boiled shrimp or squid.



Soak the dried miyeok for 20 to 30 minutes. Rinse two or three times thoroughly. Drain after each rinse, and squeeze or knead -- as if you are working with bread dough -- to remove excess salt used in the drying process. Rinse off any hidden sand. Drain well.

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Plunge the miyeok into the water and blanch for a minute. Drain and rinse in the cold water until the miyeok is cool. Drain well and squeeze out excess water.

Cut the miyeok into bite-size pieces by running a knife through it a few times in different directions.

In a large bowl, mix all the dressing ingredients well until the sugar has dissolved.

Add the miyeok, cucumber and radish. Toss well to combine everything together. Serve cold.

For more recipes visit www.koreanbapsang.com.

By Ro Hyo-sun