Miyeok guk is the soup Koreans eat on their birthday, and the one new mothers are given for weeks after giving birth. Dried wakame swells into silky ribbons in a clear, deeply savoury broth, and the whole thing tastes restorative in a way that is hard to explain until you have had a bowl.
The technique that matters is sauteing the seaweed and beef in sesame oil before any liquid goes in. Those few minutes draw the nuttiness out of the oil and give the finished broth a glossy body rather than a watery one.
Season with guk ganjang rather than ordinary soy sauce so the broth stays pale and clean, and let it simmer long enough for the wakame to go properly soft. It only improves overnight.
