Just had a bowl for my birthday. It’s actually to honor and to remember our moms because this is what they eat for recovery after giving birth. Pretty cool way to say thanks for the life.
Does your country have a birthday food with a meaning like this?
by nmjoon
9 Comments
Just a little more detail: women are given Miyeok-guk after giving birth because the seaweed is high in iodine, iron and many other nutrients and helps with the blood loss and recovery after childbirth. 🙂
doesn’t the seaweed help with milk letdown?
Looks like collard greens to me!
Post in r/asktheworld
Yes, my husbie introduced me to the concept
In a myth (오주연문장전산고) written in late Joseon, a man got swallowed by a whale that just gave childbirth. While in there, the man supposedly saw bad blood in whale being purified by a bunch of seaweed, thus introducing the concept that seaweed is good for pregnant moms and post-pregnancy.
I suppose as a result, it became related to birth, and hence eaten on birthdays. It is healthy tho.
Not Korean, but I gave birth at Samsung Jeil and the miyeok guk was soooo good. It wad the best ever!
originally for mothers, not babies.
The city of Gyeongju gifted me 5kg of rice and like 10 bags of dried seaweed when I had my youngest and it took like 3 months to eat it all