Noodle Wars: My Naeng-myun (Cold Korean Noodle Soup)

I thought it was pretty interesting that last week the New York Times came out with a naeng-myun article one day after Slashfoods did a piece with a recipe for it - am I the only one who’s never heard of this dish before?!

The naeng-myun looked and sounded delicious so I made it my personal challenge to create a vanesscipe (easy vegetarian yummy recipe by Vanessa) for it. The obstacles to overcome were threefold:
1) an interesting vegetarian substitute for the beef brisket
2) a cold and tasty vegetarian broth
3) keeping it simple, but with enough flavors and ingredients to still be interesting and authentic(ish.)

What I did was substitute cold, sliced smoked tofu for the brisket to add a chewiness. I made my broth from bullion cubes + ice cubes… I actually prefer the taste of bullion cube broth to boxed (and I’m not apologizing, harrumph) AND it’s easier to get dehydrated cubes home from the grocery store. The sweet asian pear + spicy daikon radish + crunchy cucumber + chewy tofu make an interesting and refreshing combination with the cold but spicy sweet broth.

I highly recommend searching out the asian pear. It’s like biting into an icy sphere of flower honey. Pardon my poetics, just go try one.

Besides the noodles, which lose their shape after a while, this dish is easy to make in advance. I actually packed the whole thing up and brought it to the park for a picnic. Pack the veggies in one container, put the cold broth in another container or thermos, and coat the noodles in a little sesame oil so they don’t stick together and pack those separately too. Better than sandwiches, I promise!

Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 2

Noodles and Broth

2 bundles of buckwheat udon noodles
1 bullion cube (enough for 1 cup of bullion)
2 ice cubes
2 cups cold water
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp hot yellow mustard
1 Tbl vinegar
1 tsp sugar or honey
1 Tbl soy sauce

Bring 6 or so cups of water to a boil in a pot (for the noodles.)

In a medium bowl add 1-2 Tbls of the boiling water to the bullion cube and crush/stir to combine. Add 2 large ice cubes and 2 cups of very cold water, stir. Add the rest of the broth ingredients: minced garlic, hot mustard, vinegar, sugar/honey, soy sauce. Keep in the fridge until ready to serve.

Once the water has come to a boil, turn off the heat and add the noodles to soak in the hot water. When the noodles are soft (approx. 5 minutes) strain and run cold water over them until they are cold. If you’re not eating them immediately, coat them in sesame oil and put them in the fridge. I don’t recommend storing them longer than an hour or so.

Naeng-Myun Toppings

1/2 daikon radish (can sub regular radish or turnip)
1/2 cucumber
smoked tofu, sliced
1 - 2 asian pears (can use regular pears in a pinch)
green onions, chopped

Slice the daikon radish and cucumber into wide flat strips 2-3 inches long. Slice the tofu into “cutlets” about a 1/4 inch wide, 1 inch thick and 2 inches long. Slice the pears (sneak a bite and, mmmmm, savor.) and chop the green onions.

To Serve

hot mustard
soy sauce
hot sauce
sesame oil
chop sticks

In a shallow soup bowl, add a nest of the noodles and top with the veggies and tofu. Retrieve the broth from the fridge and douse the noodles. At the table, or picnic blanket, guests can add their own hot mustard, soy sauce, hot sauce or sesame oil.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 25th, 2006 at 5:10 pm and is filed under Soups & Stews, Pasta, Pizzas, & Grains, Summer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.