← Nouns Cooking · Korean

Ingredients

• 400 g Jjolmyeon (chewy Korean wheat noodles)
• 150 g soybean sprouts (kongnamul)
• 80 g green cabbage, finely shredded
• ½ Carrot, cut into matchsticks
• ½ Cucumber, cut into matchsticks
• 2 Eggs, hard-boiled and halved
• 3 tbsp Gochujang
• 1 tbsp fine gochugaru
• 2 tbsp Sugar
• 3 tbsp Rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp Soy sauce
• 2 tbsp lemon-lime soda or pineapple juice
• 1 clove Garlic, grated
• 1 tbsp Toasted sesame oil
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Method

1. Stir the sauce ingredients together until the sugar dissolves, and chill it while you cook.
2. Bring a large pot of water to the boil and blanch the bean sprouts for 3 min with the lid on. Lift them out, cool under cold water and drain well.
3. Pull the noodle strands apart with your fingers, add them to the same boiling water and cook for 3–4 min, stirring so they do not clump. Drain and rinse very well in cold water, rubbing them to get rid of the starch, then drain again.
4. Pile the noodles into bowls with the sprouts, cabbage, carrot and cucumber, spoon the sauce on top and finish each with half an egg or two.
5. Mix everything thoroughly at the table, so every chewy strand is coated in sauce.

Tips

• Jjolmyeon noodles are sold chilled or frozen in Korean grocers; cooked spaghetti rinsed in cold water is a fair stand-in.
• The sauce keeps for a week in the fridge and is great for bibim guksu too.

Sources

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

Korean Bapsang Seonkyoung Longest Aaron and Claire