Which Korean seaweed soup is traditionally eaten on birthdays?

The Korean seaweed soup traditionally eaten on birthdays is miyeok guk, also written miyeok-guk or miyuk guk. Its main ingredient is miyeok, a brown seaweed often translated as sea mustard or identified with wakame. The seaweed is rehydrated, cut, and simmered with ingredients such as beef, fish, garlic, sesame oil, or soy sauce.

The birthday custom honors a person’s mother and recalls the tradition of eating seaweed soup after childbirth. Miyeok-guk is also associated with Samsin Halmoni, a folk goddess connected with pregnancy and childbirth. A popular traditional explanation links postpartum seaweed eating to observations of whales consuming seaweed after giving birth, though the historical details are not certain.

Miyeok-guk is not limited to birthdays: it is an everyday Korean soup and a common postpartum food. It is sometimes confused with tteokguk, sliced-rice-cake soup eaten especially around Lunar New Year, or samgyetang, a ginseng chicken soup. Birthday servings may be accompanied by rice and other celebratory dishes.