Edible sea vegetable or (“sea plant”) miyeok (미역) is a very healthy food that contains high levels of calcium, iodine, vitamins, and other minerals. It is called “wakame” in Japanese, “qundaicai” in Chinese, and “fougère des mer” in French. In Korean cuisine, it’s usually used for soup or salads.

Julgi (줄기)  is “stem” in Korean, so miyeok julgi bokkeum means “sautéed sea plant stems.” Many people like the texture of the miyeok stems because they are chewy and a little crunchy. This side dish is one of the most popular Korean dosirak side dishes.

You can get this main ingredient “miyeok julgi” at a Korean grocery store. It’s usually sold in a package preserved with lots of sea salt.

Ingredients

Miyeok stems (1 pound package), onion, garlic, corn syrup (or sugar, honey), soy sauce, onion, toasted sesame oil, roasted toasted sesame seeds, and artificial crabmeat (optional).

Directions

  1. Open a package of miyeok julgi (1 pound) with scissors. Rinse it in cold water a couple of  times until all the salt is gone. Soak it in cold water for 10 minutes.
  2. Boil about 8 cups of water in a pot.
  3. Drain the miyeok julgi and put them into a pot of boiling water.
  4. Blanch them for 20 seconds.
  5. Rinse in cold water, strain, cut them into bite size pieces, and set aside.
  6. Mince 2 cloves of garlic and slice half of a medium-sized onion. Set them aside.
  7. Split 3 sticks of crabmeat lengthwise into threads with your fingers. Cut them into bite size pieces and set aside.
    *tip: sometimes, if some miyeok julgi is not shredded thinly,  split thinly with your fingers
  8. Heat up a pan over medium high heat. Add some vegetable oil.
  9. Add the minced garlic and sliced onion. Stir it with a wooden spoon for 10 seconds, and then add miyeok julgi.
  10. Keep stirring for about 3 minutes.
  11. Add 1 tbs soy sauce, 2 ts corn syrup (mulyeot), and the crabmeat threads. Sautée another minute.
  12. Turn the heat off and add 2 ts of toasted sesame oil.

Transfer to a serving plate and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.

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36 Comments:

  1. Mik1 Australia joined 7/16 & has 1 comment

    I made this tonight, but it was verrrrry strong in ocean flavor however not too salty. Is it supposed to have a strong ocean smell & taste or do I need to let soak for a longer time?

  2. Hmmm… I made this last night but the flavor was very, very funky. I used a package of seaweed stems I had bought quite a while ago and left in the fridge. The date was ok, but still it wasn’t very fresh. Would this make a difference? Or maybe I’m just not as accustomed to seaweed flavor as I thought I was?

    • jaekoh Los Angeles, CA joined 11/13 & has 4 comments

      uh. this is rather really late to be replying to this… i suppose that it could be either. from what i read recently, most food manufacturers don’t have the expiration dates exact down to science. rather, they mostly copy other manufacturers who manufacture same/similar items. I’ve seen expiration dates on my seaweed stems go almost a year. On the other hand, they do taste a bit funky but I’ve had them since i was young. If you didnt get sick, it was probably okay? haha

  3. Rainbow Texas joined 7/12 & has 1 comment

    Hello….I love your videos. I visited an Asian Market today and purchased seaweed stems and some other items…Looking forward to making the sauteed seaweed stems. Your pictures and video make it look delicious. :-) I also purchased a bag of dried things and the package is marked Golden Lion, Soup Stock. It contains what looks like dried mushrooms, some thin rice noodles, some black seaweed very thin, dried dates, and some other stuff. It looked so good and interesting that I bought this bag. NOW, what do I do with this? :-) Yes, I am a beginner with these Asian products. Please help? Thank you

  4. jaylivg Houston joined 7/10 & has 107 comments

    I bought this earlier at the grocery store !!!! and i loved it !! Wish i knew that you had the recipe .. now i have to wait couple more weeks before heading to korean grocery store LOL and i cant wait to try this recipe , looks so easy and delicious !

  5. Niiaba California joined 11/11 & has 3 comments

    Delicious! I first had this when I was in Hawaii and couldn’t stop eating it! Now I know how to make it…I am so happy! Thank youuuuuu!

  6. Q Maryland, USA joined 10/11 & has 2 comments

    I could not find a package that had the word “miyeok” on it at my Korean market, so hope that “salted seaplant stems” is close enough. I will try this tonight, and let you know. Part of the fun of cooking from your recipes lies in exploring the markets.

  7. JamieF New Zealand joined 1/11 & has 120 comments

    Maangchi – your little blooper at the beginning was very funny and nice to see. You should make a video of bloopers – it would be so much fun for all your fans! :)

  8. mokpochica Michigan joined 1/09 & has 89 comments

    Yum! I found some miyuk in the fridge today and told my husband that I would try making this dish. (He has always made it in the past.) Everyone loved it and my husband asked me how I made it about 3 times…I think he was taking mental notes. I’d better be careful because I don’t think that he is going to cook much at all if I keep serving him better versions of the foods he usually makes. ;)

  9. kwakwa Singapore joined 12/10 & has 1 comment

    Hi Maangchi,

    Can we store this banchan in the fridge and for how long?

    Thanks

  10. paulamyka philippines joined 10/10 & has 4 comments

    kamsahamnida seonsaengnim,,or can i call you unnie,,I i ate this food last july in a korean restaurant, well it was actually the sidedish, our main order was 삼겹살 , seafood pancake, chapchae, bibimbap and bulgogi, since im not really a meat lover i tried eating the bibimbap but i didn’t find it delicious(mat opso) since there was too many rice, and few veggies, then i i saw this side dish at first glance i knew it was seaweed, i tried it and i was like wow, this taste like pork skin( without cholesterol) and i had like 4 servings of it,
    thanks now i can make some of this at home

  11. MCSEman Egypt joined 9/10 & has 3 comments

    Dear Maangchi,
    I tried this recipe because you advices me, do you remember?
    Check my reply in (Spicy fish soup recipe) to remember :)

    I followed your steps and make this nice dish.
    I like it, but I added some lemon and ground black pepper.

    This is the final dish photo: http://www12.0zz0.com/2010/09/21/02/798080990.jpg
    You can upload it to your flickr page.

    Now, I planned to try Grilled Mackerel, this kind of fish is popular here in Egypt and all people know it, but I ate it before by different way.

    Thanks dear for your effort.

  12. some1unknown australia joined 12/09 & has 8 comments

    heya thanks for the new video.
    i always like the sea.
    well anyways could you use this in kimbap?

  13. yieroo joined 3/10 & has 3 comments

    love your recipes…:)
    Can I make a request?
    Could you please do a video for Kalbi tang?
    pleaseeeee
    :D
    thank u

  14. myji incheon, south korea joined 5/10 & has 2 comments

    i hope to learn more recipes for vegetable side dishes / fish or seafoods recipes / and any kinds of soups, so that i can really do my duties in cooking a korean food for my korean husband……

    by the way, i want to know how to cook the daktoritang….pls. help me…hope to see it here next time…… thanks a lot and i love this site so much….

  15. myji incheon, south korea joined 5/10 & has 2 comments

    hmmm, i was so glad to knew this site…. it’s really helpful to those people who really likes cooking and mostly to those people whose married to a korean man/woman like me…..

  16. powerplantop Louisiana joined 6/09 & has 70 comments

    To bad Pakistan now blocks YT. Guess I have to wait until I go back to Dubai to watch.

  17. korea4me South Korea joined 10/09 & has 55 comments

    That looks really tasty, Mangchi. And I like your laugh at the beginning of the video. ^__^

  18. NoOtherNamesWereLeft Denmark joined 4/10 & has 1 comment

    HI Maangchi, thanks for the new recipie, I’m so happy your’e doing something with sea weeds!!
    Can I use dried wakame for this recipie, or does it have to be the salted type? I’ve only seen dried wakame here in Denmark, and never the one you used. Thanks in advance!

  19. Libelle Germany joined 10/09 & has 30 comments

    I loooove all things “sea plant” (like miyuk, kim and dashima) and always saw this in the freezer section at the store and wished I knew how to make it….and now I do! Kamsahamnida, Maangchi unnie! ^^

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