# @thekoreanvegan on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DI1dN0ezgp-
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/29800599-thekoreanvegan-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/4827d1ffec.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-04-24T16:00:00.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Joanne L. Molinaro, The Korean Vegan (@thekoreanvegan) — https://gondola.cc/thekoreanvegan

## Caption

In Korea, new mothers are often presented with seaweed soup or Miyeok Guk. Rich in iron, iodine, calcium, and folate, the soup is thought to promote healing, recovery, and lactation. Symbolically, giving a young mother seaweed soup is akin to saying, “Thank you. You did a great job. We are proud of you. We are indebted to you. We love you.”

And thus, seaweed soup is also the traditional meal one eats on your birthday. To REMEMBER your mother. The great sacrifices she made on the day you were born, in the months leading up to your birth, and the years after.

I wonder whether anyone was there to feed my mother miyeok guk when I was born. My grandmother (her mother) was not yet here in the States and my Dad could barely make instant ramen noodles at that time (he’s since grown into a great cook). What a lonely adventure motherhood must have been for my mom, starting the very second I was born. I love my Dad and I’m proud of the kind of father he grew to be, but, let’s be real—he was far from the supporting husband. He, too, had been raised to believe his job in life was decidedly OUTSIDE the house and were it not for my grandmothers who thankfully came to help my mom, I think Omma’s situation would have been unbearable.

There are so many women who have stories like my mother’s. They are forced to bury their sorrow, loneliness, despair, rage, and sadness deep within themselves because airing it would only subject them to a gaslighting so profound, it would be like being wounded all over again. I’m not saying all women are like Omma—some women would joyously give up a career to raise their children and never think twice about it. But that wasn’t my mother and she deserved better.

And no—I don’t resent Omma for making me feel unwanted with her advice about not having kids. Yes, I was aware of the implication, even when I was young. And yes, I definitely think it impacted my choices in my early 20s—some of which I regret. But that’s the thing about women—we learn to live with our regrets. And still make room for joy and love and forgiveness and miyeok guk, notwithstanding.

#motherhood #koreanfood #womenstories #seaweedsoup

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 29,064
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- **Comments:** 702

## Tags

motherhood, koreanfood, seaweedsoup, womenstories

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