Mieum (food) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Mieum

Sieved rice mieum as baby food
Type	Gruel
Place of origin	Korea
Associated national cuisine	Korean cuisine
Main ingredients	Rice or foxtail millet

Mieum (Hangul: 미음; Hanja: 米飮) is a very thin, smooth gruel from Korea. It's made by straining cooked grains. You can make it from white rice, glutinous rice, or foxtail millet.

This gentle food is often given to people who need a liquid diet, like patients. It's also perfect for babies who are just starting to eat solid foods. Sometimes, a super thin mieum is even mixed with powdered milk for very young babies. It can be a good substitute for breast milk when needed.

Making Mieum: A Simple Recipe

Making mieum is quite easy! First, you need to soak your main ingredient. This is usually rice or foxtail millet. You should soak it for at least two hours. Soaking helps the grains become soft.

After soaking, drain the water. Then, you boil the grains with a lot of fresh water. A good rule is to use ten parts water for every one part of grain. For example, if you use one cup of rice, you'd add ten cups of water.

You simmer this mixture until the grains are very soft and mushy. They should almost fall apart. Once it's cooked, you strain the mushy mixture. You use a double sieve to make sure it's super smooth. This removes any lumpy bits.

Finally, you warm the smooth mieum again. It's usually served with two small dishes on the side. These dishes hold a little salt and cheongjang (a clear soy sauce). You can add these to taste.

Sok-mieum: A Special Mieum

Sok-mieum (Hangul: 속미음; Hanja: 粟米飮) is a special kind of mieum. It has extra ingredients that make it unique. These ingredients are jujube (a sweet fruit), chestnut, and ginseng. Ginseng is a root often used in traditional Korean medicine.

To make sok-mieum, you first simmer thinly sliced ginseng in water for about an hour. This creates a flavorful ginseng water. This special water is then used to cook the main grains.

You prepare the glutinous rice or glutinous foxtail millet in the same way as regular mieum. You boil it with the ginseng water until it's mushy. Then, you add the jujube and chestnut. Everything is then strained through a double sieve to make it smooth.

If you make sok-mieum with glutinous rice, you usually season it with sugar. But if you use glutinous foxtail millet, it's often seasoned with salt. This makes for a tasty and nourishing meal!