I am not a cook.

I probably shouldn't paraphrase Richard Nixon, as he really was a crook, whereas I most definitely am not a cook. I have perfected spaghetti-from-a-jar and Korean instant curry atop Korean instant rice, and am pretty much content to let my cooking skills remain at this level. Luckily for me, I have friends who are far more into cooking! Coworker J had expressed an interest in learning how to cook Korean food, so G invited us over for an introductory lesson featuring seaweed soup and stuffed tofu.

Seaweed soup (미역국 - unfortunately transliterated as mi-yuck gook, which to the uninitiated sounds rather gross. I promise it's not.) is easy to make (even I could make it, were I suitably motivated), delicious, and healthy. It's a traditional food for pregnant and post-partum women here in Korea, although it's certainly not restricted to them by any means.

Seaweed (미역) is usually sold dehydrated. It doesn't take much to make a lot of soup.


Re-hydrate your seaweed in water... and soak your beef in water as well to remove the blood.


Once your seaweed has rehydrated, wring it out.


Mildly 'stir-fry' your seaweed in some kind of sesame seed oil, just long enough to get all of the seaweed covered in said oil. (Yes, I realize "some kind of sesame seed oil" is vague, but remember, I am not a cook.)


Drain your beef and add it to the seaweed.


Add water and soy sauce.


Add seasoning. Er... Korean bullion equivalent?

At this point, you just boil the soup for a few minutes, and then your soup is finished! Meanwhile, my stuffed tofu section of this post is even more vague.


After browning your tofu on both sides...

...cut a slit in the center of each square. Stuff with stir-fried meat-n-onions mixed with kimchi.


The final product.


Seaweed soup and stuffed tofu... delicious!! :-)