Spicy Bibim Naengmyeon (Spicy Cold Noodles)

Ingredients

• Mix the sauce well and let it age in the refrigerator for 3 days before eating.
• Use firm Korean radish with high moisture content so that it turns out crisp and delicious.
• Scooping out the cucumber seeds keeps it clean and tidy.
• Thaw frozen skate sashimi, rinse it clean, cut it once or twice to separate the pieces, and blanch it briefly in boiling water.
• You can use juice instead of fresh pear and apple, and if you have lemon-lime soda (chilsung cider), you can add that as well.

Steps

1. 

   Let's make the sauce, which is the most important part of bibim naengmyeon.

   I took a lot of photos, but the file size was too large to upload, so I'll explain it in words.

   Blend half an onion and 2 red chili peppers together in a blender and transfer to a bowl.

   I didn't have pear and apple at home, so I substituted store-bought juice... it still tastes great. If you have lemon-lime soda, you can add it too.

   Mix all of the sauce ingredients above in the listed amounts. People say bibim naengmyeon sauce originally doesn't include gochujang...

   When I mixed it without gochujang, the noodles and sauce felt separate, so I added just a little bit. Please use fine gochugaru.

   Mix well and let it age in the refrigerator for 3 days before eating.

   If you eat it right after making it, it really doesn't taste good. If you still choose to eat it right away, I can't take responsibility for the taste... haha.

   

   This is the sauce after 4 days, and the color is much richer and it has thickened up nicely.

   The sauce recipe above makes a little over 4 servings.

2. 

   Let's make the pickled radish and pickled cucumber.

   Use firm Korean radish with lots of moisture so it turns out crisp and tasty.

   Scooping out the cucumber seeds keeps it clean and not messy.

   I prepared 1/3 of a Korean radish and half a cucumber.

   

   Now let's pickle the Korean radish. First, slice the radish into flat, long pieces that aren't too thin, sprinkle 1 tsp of fine salt evenly over them, and pickle for about 30 minutes.

   

   Slice the cucumber into similar size and shape, scoop out the seeds, and pickle with 1/2 tsp of salt.

   It's half the weight of the radish, so I halved all the amounts. You can pickle this for 30 minutes just like the radish.

3. 

   Radish releases moisture on its own, but salting it drew out a lot of liquid.

   You don't need to squeeze it tightly; just place the radish in a strainer and discard the water. Tasting it, it seems lightly salted.

   Discard the water from the cucumber in the same way.

4. 

   Put the Korean radish back in a bowl and toss with the listed amounts of vinegar, sugar, and fine gochugaru, leaving out the salt.

   For the cucumber, toss with half the amount of the radish seasonings, leaving out the salt and gochugaru.

   Let them sit for at least 30 minutes before serving with the cold noodles.

   

   Here is the finished pickled radish.

5. 

   Restaurants serve bibim naengmyeon with skate sashimi, but I couldn't buy raw skate just to eat one bowl of cold noodles,

   so I bought pre-cleaned, frozen skate sashimi sold at the supermarket.

   I'm going to serve this with the bibim naengmyeon. I thawed it, rinsed it clean, and made one or two cuts to separate it.

   My explanation keeps getting long because I'm trying to cover anything you might be curious about...

   

   I briefly blanched the thawed skate in boiling water.

   Since it wasn't fresh sashimi grade, I felt uneasy eating it raw...

6. 

   This is a mustard sauce made by mixing mustard powder and water in equal proportions.

   It's also good to make this in advance and let it age for a few hours.

   Once all the toppings are ready, blanch the cold noodles in boiling water and be sure to rinse them in ice water at the end. This keeps them chewy and prevents them from getting soggy the entire time you eat, so you can enjoy them thoroughly.

7. 

   I wanted to serve it in a pretty cold noodle bowl, but I wanted to mix a generous bowl of noodles vigorously, so I put it in a mixing bowl.

   Add the cold noodles and neatly top with the skate, pickled radish, pickled cucumber, and egg.

   

   Pour the delicious sauce on top...

   Here is the finished bibim naengmyeon. If it feels too stiff when mixing, add 1 to 2 tbsp of broth and mix.

   Serve alongside the prepared mustard sauce...

   

   Here it is mixed together. Doesn't this look even more appetizing?

   

Ppunwife's tips

• Without gochujang, the sauce and noodles feel separate, so it's good to add a little bit, and be sure to use fine gochugaru.
• The sauce does not taste good right after making it, so let it age in the refrigerator for 3 days before eating.
• After blanching the cold noodles, always rinse them in ice water at the end to keep them chewy and prevent them from getting soggy while eating.
• If it feels too stiff when mixing, add 1 to 2 tbsp of broth and mix.

FAQ

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