Halmonee's Postpartum Rules

Halmonee is Grandma in Korean. And below are a combination of Korean old wives tales and my mother's own anecdotal postpartum rules from having 7 children. I thought I'd jot them down while I still remembered them so that I can be sure to *lovingly* nag my own daughters and daughter-in-laws in the future.

• Soup of any kind is the best for breastfeeding (seaweed soup is best).
• One must stay covered up at all times, to the point of sweating. 
• Socks must be worn at all times.
• Don't take large bites of hard objects, teeth will start to weaken.
• No reading or computer time, your eyes will get worse.

My mother has never spend more than 10 minutes in front of a computer her entire life so not sure how that one got in there, but her visits during the first two months were a godsend.

I understand now why new parents can seem so obsessed with their kids, smug even. It is without a doubt the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. To survive caring for a newborn is nothing short of a miracle - thus my complete absence from blogging for the past 3 months! But for now, a toast to all the mamas and papas before me as I raise this glass (of real alcohol!) to them.

Baby Bearhat's Lineage

Interesting fact: both of Baby Bearhat's Grandfathers are not American citizens. Both by choice.

My dad is from far South in South Korea - Busan, born the only son of a fisherman and his housewife. CGB's dad is the youngest of three (but also the only son), born and raised in London, England by a self-employed house painter and secretary.

Both my mother and I were naturalized as U.S. citizens in 1999, and CGB's mother is multi-generations deep into America.

This means Baby Bearhat will be 50% Korean, 25% English and 25% Caucasian Mix. One of the reasons I decided to start this blog was to keep track of how CGB and I introduce family traditions to BBH along the way. Food will certainly play a huge part in this. I definitely plan to relive my first memories of eating kimchi and Choco-pies through BBH. If my mother has her way, she'll be up here making seaweed soup for my postpartum recovery so I (and BBH via breast milk) will be dining on that for at least a week! Meanwhile, CGB will be introducing brown sauce, licorice pipes, and training her to be a loyal St. Louis Cardinals fan.

The comparison photo I shared in the "What Will My Baby Look Like?" includes a photo of me from a very specific Korean tradition that I can't wait to share. It's called the Dol Janchi or "Dol" for short. It's the celebration of the baby's first birthday. Now I know everyone celebrates the first birthday, but in Korean culture it has a special meaning. Celebrating the first year of life is related to high infant mortality rates in the not so recent past. If a child could make it past their first birthday, he or she had a much better chance of surviving to adulthood so whole villages would come to bless the child, and celebrate the occasion.

(Photo of me and my Mom at my Dol. Finding a baby photo of me smiling is like 

trying to find a needle in a haystack. I guess BBH got my frowny gene.)

The birthday babies wear traditional Korean attire called "hanbok" for the festivities as well as jewelry. The highlight of the "Dol" is when the child is placed in front of a table of various foods and objects and given free reign to pick up an item from the table. It is believed that the item selected will foretell the child's future. I myself picked up a paintbrush. I can't say I fulfilled that prophecy fully, but I did major in Art so I guess that counts for something. The rest of the time is spent eating - as it should be. Most of the food and decorations will be mountains of fruit and Korean rice cakes, for as the saying goes: the higher the stack, the more prosperous the life!

But Who Will Make The Seaweed Soup?!

The last time I went home, I was able to convince my poor ailing grandmother out of her crazy idea to come live with me after birth. She's frail and I fear she just wouldn't be able to handle the four flights of stairs to our San Francisco apartment everyday, much less survive the ridiculous winters here with her little bird bones. Also, she hates cats!

No, sunny Los Angeles is where she belonged. I told her that she should continue to enjoy her retirement schedule of making Korean dumplings, going to the spa with her friends, and generally just taking it easy. Once my wonderful sister agreed to come up for a week or so, my grandmother was finally convinced to stop packing her bags.

The news of my grandmother staying at home however, immediately made my mother worry exactly who would be around to make me seaweed soup! ....Huh?

So what's so important about seaweed soup? Well, I always had it on my birthday so I was a bit confused. In fact, if you ever watch any Korean dramas, people make a pretty big deal about making sure you eat some on every birthday. My grandmother makes kick-ass seaweed soup so I quite enjoy it, but it wasn't a big favorite among my siblings. So anyway, it wasn't until I got pregnant that I finally understood the true meaning of seaweed soup (or 미역국, pronounced Mi-yeok Guk)

The reason why Koreans eat seaweed soup on our birthdays is because it is supposed to be a reminder of what our mothers had to go through to bring us into this world. Yep, some good old Asian guilt! Mi-yeok seaweed is usually the type that is used to make traditional Korean seaweed soup (not the same as the nori seaweed sheets or the bright green kind in seaweed salad). Mi-yeok seaweed is super rich in iron and iodine. Iron is an essential ingredient for our bodies to make blood so it helps replenish all the blood we lose during childbirth. Iodine helps kick-start the production of hormones, which in turn helps produce breast milk. The broth of the soup is usually made out of beef or dried fish, which helps provide some much needed calcium and protein. Turns out that it's tradition for women to eat Mi-yeok guk for up to three weeks straight after childbirth. I don't think my mom ate it for that long, but she definitely had plenty of it after each birth. Out of this first tradition, came the secondary one where we have it on our birthdays as a reminder of our moms having this soup to recuperate from the pregnancy/childbirth.

So I have a Mi-yeok guk recipe on hand that I'll make with my sister after delivery to put my mom's worries to rest. I've been trying to teach myself how to cook more and more Korean food with Baby Bearhat on the way so if I'm successful, little BB won't ever have a birthday without seaweed soup while under my roof! A simple Google search will show you that there are many variations you can make (adding mussels being one of my grandma's favorites, but she also makes hers with homemade marrow broth which takes FOREVER, but is the true secret to why hers tastes so good). I always taste as I go, so you'll notice that happens quite a bit in this recipe. You can find the Mi-yeok seaweed at any Korean food store, just look for "미역" on the bag. It's a simple soup that hits any salty craving. However be warned: the slippery seaweed texture is not for everyone.


Ingredients:

2 cups of soaked seaweed

4 cups of beef broth
4 cups of water
1 package of firm tofu
1/4 lb of beef brisket
2 minced garlic cloves
Salt to taste
Sesame oil


Directions:

1. Soak 1/2 cup of dried seaweed in a big bowl for at least 30 minutes.
   After soaking you'll have 2 cups.
2. Drain the water from the seaweed and cut it into bite sizes.
3. Cut the beef brisket into thin inch-long pieces.
4. Drizzle sesame oil into a big pot and saute beef & garlic for a few minutes.
5. Add in the soaked seaweed and saute for one more minute.
6. Pour in the water and broth and bring to a boil.
7. Taste and season with salt if necessary.
8. Simmer for 20-25 minutes over medium heat.
   Feel free to add more water if it's too thick.
9. Taste again and season with salt if necessary.
10. Cube firm tofu into bite-size pieces and toss in.
    Let heat through 1-2 minutes. 
11. Taste again for final time. Should taste salty, but not too salty!
12. Serve in bowls alone or with Korean side dishes and a bowl of rice.

Serves 4. Soup photo is from Chilli Pepper Travels.