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
- 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.
- Boil about 8 cups of water in a pot.
- Drain the miyeok julgi and put them into a pot of boiling water.
- Blanch them for 20 seconds.
- Rinse in cold water, strain, cut them into bite size pieces, and set aside.
- Mince 2 cloves of garlic and slice half of a medium-sized onion. Set them aside.
- 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 - Heat up a pan over medium high heat. Add some vegetable oil.
- Add the minced garlic and sliced onion. Stir it with a wooden spoon for 10 seconds, and then add miyeok julgi.
- Keep stirring for about 3 minutes.
- Add 1 tbs soy sauce, 2 ts corn syrup (mulyeot), and the crabmeat threads. Sautée another minute.
- Turn the heat off and add 2 ts of toasted sesame oil.
Transfer to a serving plate and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.
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?
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?
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
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
I hope your miyeokjulgi bokkeum turns out delicious! I never use soup powder but I think you can use it in the soup or stew.
If you want, leave your question on the forum with the photo of the soup powder you bought. Maybe some of my other readers give you good answers.
https://www.maangchi.com/talk/forum/general-discussion
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 !
I’m sure yours will turn out delicious!