← Nouns Cooking · Korean

Ingredients

• 500 g beef brisket or shank
• 2.5 l Water
• ½ Onion
• 5 cloves Garlic
• 2 slices Ginger
• 1 tbsp soup soy sauce
• 2 tsp Salt
• 3 tbsp Sugar
• 4 tbsp Rice vinegar
• 200 g Korean radish or daikon, thinly sliced into rectangles
• 2 tbsp Rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Salt
• 400 g Naengmyeon (Korean buckwheat cold noodles)
• 1 Cucumber, cut into matchsticks
• ½ Korean (Asian) pear, thinly sliced
• 2 Eggs, hard-boiled and halved
• 1 tsp Sesame seeds
• Korean or English mustard and extra vinegar, to serve

Method

1. Put the beef, water, onion, garlic and ginger in a pot and bring to the boil, skimming off any foam. Simmer partly covered for 1 hour, until the beef is tender.
2. Lift out the beef, wrap it and chill. Strain the broth, skim off the fat, then stir in the soy sauce, salt, sugar and vinegar. Taste: it should be bright, sweet-sour and a little salty, as the cold dulls the flavour.
3. Chill the broth in the freezer for at least 3 hours, stirring now and then, until it is icy and slushy around the edges.
4. Toss the radish with its vinegar, sugar and salt and leave for 30 min. Thinly slice the chilled beef.
5. Cook the noodles in plenty of boiling water following the packet, usually about 1 minute. Drain and scrub them under ice-cold water with your hands to wash off the starch, then drain well.
6. Twist the noodles into bowls and top with beef, pickled radish, cucumber, pear and half an egg. Ladle the icy broth over, sprinkle with sesame and serve with mustard, vinegar and scissors to cut the long noodles.

Tips

• Adding a cup of dongchimi (radish water kimchi) brine to the broth gives the authentic fizzy tang.
• Naengmyeon noodles usually contain wheat as well as buckwheat, so check the label if you avoid gluten.

Sources

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

Kimchimari Beyond Kimchee Seonkyoung Longest