Muk (food) facts for kids

Muk
A plate of dotori-muk-muchim
Quick facts for kids Korean name
Hangul	묵
Revised Romanization	muk
McCune–Reischauer	muk

Muk is a special Korean food. It has a jelly-like texture. People make it from the starch of grains, beans, or nuts. Common ingredients include buckwheat, sesame, and acorns.

Muk itself does not have much flavor. So, people usually season it. They add things like soy sauce, sesame oil, and chopped scallions. Sometimes, they mix in crumbled gim (dried seaweed) and chili pepper powder. It is often served with different vegetables.

Types of Muk

There are several kinds of muk, each made from a different starch:

• Dotori-muk (도토리묵): This muk is made from acorn starch.
• Memil-muk (메밀묵): This type uses buckwheat starch.
• Nokdu-muk (녹두묵): This muk is made from mung bean starch.
• Hwangpo-muk (황포묵): Also called norang-muk, this is also from mung bean starch. It gets its yellow color from gardenia plants.
• Kkae-muk (깨묵): This muk is made from sesame seeds.

Dishes Made with Muk

Memil-muk-sabal is a cold soup with muk.

Muk is often used in many tasty Korean dishes:

• Muk-muchim (묵무침): This is a muk salad. It is seasoned with Korean soy sauce (ganjang). People also add sesame or perilla oil, chopped green onions, sesame seeds, and red chili pepper powder. You can mix it with sliced cucumber or leaf vegetables like lettuce or cabbage. Sometimes, it is just served with crumbled gim (Korean nori) on top.
• Tangpyeong-chae (탕평채): This dish uses thinly sliced nokdumuk. It is mixed with beef, vegetables, and seaweed.
• Muk-bokkeum (묵볶음): This is a stir-fried muk dish.
• Muk-jangajji (묵장아찌): This dish features muk that has been marinated in ganjang.
• Muk-jeonyueo (묵전유어) or mukjeon (묵전): For this, slices of muk are coated with mung bean starch and then pan-fried.
• Muk-sabal (묵사발) or mukbap (묵밥): This is a refreshing cold soup. It contains muk and sliced vegetables.

See also

In Spanish: Muk para niños