← Nouns Cooking · Korean

Ingredients

• 5 tbsp Gochugaru (Korean chilli flakes)
• 2 tbsp Gochujang
• 4 tbsp Rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp Sugar
• 1 tbsp Honey
• 2 tbsp Soy sauce
• 2 tbsp Toasted sesame oil
• 3 cloves Garlic, minced
• ¼ Korean (Asian) pear or apple, grated
• ¼ Onion, grated
• 1 tsp Mustard
• 1 tbsp Sesame seeds
• 200 g Korean radish or daikon, cut into thin strips
• 2 tbsp Rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Salt
• 400 g Naengmyeon (Korean buckwheat cold noodles)
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Cucumber, cut into matchsticks
• ½ Korean (Asian) pear, thinly sliced

Method

1. Stir all the sauce ingredients together and leave for 30 min so the chilli softens and the flavours blend. Toss the radish with its vinegar, sugar and salt at the same time.
2. Lower the eggs into boiling water and cook for 10 min, then cool in cold water, peel and halve.
3. Cook the noodles in plenty of boiling water following the packet, usually 1–2 min. Drain and rub them under ice-cold running water to remove the starch, then drain very well.
4. Divide the noodles between bowls and spoon a generous dollop of sauce on each. Top with the drained radish, cucumber, pear and half an egg.
5. Tell everyone to mix it all together, adding more sauce, vinegar or a splash of icy water to taste, and use scissors to cut the noodles.

Tips

• The sauce keeps for a week in the fridge and is great on bibim guksu or as a dip.
• Naengmyeon noodles are sold dried or frozen in Korean shops; thin soba is the nearest swap.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Beyond Kimchee Seonkyoung Longest