Superfood Maesaengi! There's a reason why it's chosen as space food.

Jangheung and Wando are the optimal habitats
Rich in iron and calcium... Perfect for dieting
Winter delicacies, such as jeon and porridge, have a variety of recipes.
Adding it to rice cake soup makes for a delicious addition to the Lunar New Year table.

 

Maesaengi, which means "picking fresh moss directly" in pure Korean, is a type of seaweed that grows only in clean seas and is a representative pollution-free food. The southern coast of Jeollanam-do, including Jangheung and Wando, known for its clear waters, is considered an ideal habitat, and 70% of all Maesaengi produced in Korea is harvested here.

The harvest season for seaweed, which tastes better the colder it gets, is from mid-December to mid-February. Nowadays, with advanced storage methods, you can enjoy seaweed any time of the year, but seaweed harvested and tasted immediately in winter feels as if it embodies the sea itself.

The unique aroma, deep blue color, and smoothly flowing texture resemble Namhae shining in indigo even in the middle of winter. Compared to similarly shaped seaweeds like laver and kelp, it has less fishy taste and aroma, making it easy for even children or those who dislike fishy flavors to enjoy.

 

What is better known than its taste is the nutrients of maesaengi. It boasts a variety of rich nutrients enough to be designated as space food. It contains essential nutrients for our body such as minerals like calcium, potassium, iron, and iodine, as well as vitamin C. In particular, the iron content is 40 times higher than milk, and calcium is five times more, making it beneficial for children's growth and development, as well as for preventing osteoporosis and anemia in adults.

Since activity levels are low and weight gain can easily occur during the winter season, it is also suitable as a diet food. It is a low-calorie, low-fat food that provides a strong sense of fullness, so eating just a little quickly satisfies hunger. Additionally, its rich dietary fiber helps promote intestinal peristalsis and facilitates bowel movements.

Contains more than three times the amount of dietary fiber beneficial for detoxifying the body and asparagine that helps relieve hangovers, making bean sprouts an excellent choice both as a snack with alcohol and for hangover relief.

The most common way to enjoy the representative winter health food, maesaengi, is to boil it in soup. Making it into soup allows you to better appreciate its natural flavor, and the preparation method is not difficult. While it's fine to boil it alone, adding oysters, another seasonal winter ingredient, enhances the rich taste.

Compared to its deep flavor, the cooking method and ingredients are quite simple. Dissolve maesong in anchovy broth and bring it to a boil, then add oysters. Immediately add minced garlic and season with soy sauce and tuna fish sauce, and that's it. It’s also good to add a little green onion or a drop of sesame oil to make the maesong aroma less overwhelming. Add rice cake slices and boil to make maesong oyster rice cake soup. It’s suitable for the New Year’s ancestral rites table or when you’re worried about side dishes; just boil it quickly to easily prepare a meal.

The key to making Maesaengi oyster soup lies in proper cleaning. It is important to remove impurities remaining in the oysters, so oysters are placed in a coarse strainer and gently rinsed under running water while stirring with your hand to wash away foreign substances like shell fragments. Similarly, washing for too long can cause the oyster aroma to disappear, so it should be rinsed quickly to remove only impurities.

If you want a more unique recipe, try cooking pasta with seaweed. Recently, pasta recipes made with various domestic ingredients have become popular, and seaweed cannot be missing.

The ingredients required are olive oil, cooked pasta, thinly sliced or minced garlic, seaweed (maesaengi), salt, and peperoncino. First, generously pour olive oil into a pan, add garlic and peperoncino, and sauté over medium-low heat until the garlic aroma rises. When the garlic aroma begins to waft up, add the seaweed and lightly sauté, then add the pre-cooked pasta.

At this point, add one cup of the remaining noodle water after boiling the noodles, so that the ingredients do not stick to the pan and the flavor of maesaengi (seaweed) can be well absorbed while stir-frying the noodles. Season with salt, and if desired, sprinkle with pepper to finish. You can also top with thinly sliced green onions according to your preference, or add a little oyster sauce when seasoning, or grate Grana Padano cheese on top at the end to create a richer flavor pasta. Additional ingredients such as shrimp, oysters, or bacon can also deepen the taste. Besides these, it is also possible to prepare dishes like maesaengi jeon (pancakes with seaweed) topped with shrimp or maesaengi porridge using various cooking methods.

Moss, which is as thin and soft as a baby's hair, can be completely ruined if washed directly in water. Instead of scrubbing vigorously, it should be rinsed gently by placing it in a fine sieve and rinsing it under flowing water, as if filtering out impurities. After rinsing several times like this, the water will turn a dark grayish-brown. Continue rinsing until the water becomes clear, but be careful not to wash it for too long, as the aroma may disappear.

If you plan to eat it within 2-3 days after washing, it can be stored in the refrigerator. For maesaengi that won't be eaten immediately, lightly salt it just enough to prevent water from flowing, then divide into portions and freeze. When cooking, simply thaw naturally at room temperature before use. By storing maesaengi this way, you can enjoy maesaengi dishes even in the summer.

• Shinda Som Columnist shinda.write@gmail.com

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It was served as a side dish for lunch.

It was a bit disappointing because it was made with seaweed salad, haha.

Auk soup was delicious, but the warm Mae Saeng-i oyster soup was even better.

I want to eat!!