Korean Cooking: Naengmyeon

My first year I hated this soup I thought it was just plain crazy but now I’m hooked!!!  There are so many instant versions and with some red pepper powder, a slice of apple and a boiled egg it will taste just like the restaurant version. A week ago my boyfriend decided to teach me how to make it from scratch. I’m slowly learning that with a little red pepper powder, beef bullion, a handful of various seasonal and noodles or rice you can make most Korean dishes.

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

Buck wheat noodles (we used the leftovers from my instant packet). They look like spaghetti noodles(a bit darker) and are usually sold in rolls if you buy them individually.

1 cucumber

2 tsp red pepper powder

1 boiled egg

2 tbsp beef bullion +2 cups of water

2 tsp *light* brown sugar

1 tsp   sea salt

sesame seeds

2 tsp plum or apple vinegar

add mustard or mustard oil if needed

First mix the sugar, bullion, garlic and vinegar. You should keep adding vinegar till it tastes pretty tangy.

 

 

 

 

Next you want to take your buckwheat                                   noodles and     put them in to the pot slowly and kind of wrap them around. The long noodles represent longevity so cutting the noodles means your cutting your life.  But sure to keep stirring the pot because the noodles might be very sticky. Putting an egg or two in with the noodles.

 

While the noodles are cooking cut the cucumber                                                             very thinly and in little strips. You should make about a cups worth. Then add a pinch of red pepper powder, vinegar, salt, and sugar. Stir and let everything soak in to the cucumbers.

 

 

 

By now the noodles will be done they don’t take as long as spaghetti. Cool the noodles then pour the broth in to a metal bowl with ice then add the noodles, a slice of pear (apples work well too), cucumber mixture and top with a boiled egg.