If you like seaweed salad, try this. Traditionally offered to nursing mothers, it’s soothing in the winter and cooling in the summer (see variation). To slice the beef thinly, freeze it until it is just beginning to harden, 30 to 60 minutes. Miyuk is the Korean word known to the Japanese as wakame and elsewhere as alaria (see page 484); you should be able to find it at Asian markets.

　　

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

　　1/2 pound lean beef, preferably sirloin, sliced as thinly as possible

　　2 garlic cloves, minced

　　3 tablespoons soy sauce

　　1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

　　3 ounces miyuk (wakame) seaweed, broken into bits

　　2 tablespoons corn, grapeseed, or other neutral oil

　　2 scallions, cut into 2-inch lengths, plus chopped scallion for garnish

　　Salt and black pepper to taste

　　

Step 1

Mix the beef with the garlic, soy sauce, and sesame oil and marinate for a few minutes. Meanwhile, thoroughly wash the seaweed under cold running water.

　　

Step 2

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the beef with its marinade and brown, about 2 minutes, then add the seaweed and cook, stirring, for another 2 minutes. Add the scallions and 5 cups water to the saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, partially covered, until the seaweed is soft, about 1 hour.

　　

Step 3

Season with salt and pepper, garnish with chopped scallion, and serve.

　　

Summer Seaweed Soup

Step 4

Cook through step 2, then cool. Meanwhile, seed and thinly slice 1 cucumber and peel and thinly slice one 2-inch piece of daikon radish. Add to the cooled soup, along with 6 ice cubes, and serve.

　　The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved.MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.