Naengmyun (냉면)

The summertime calls for some korean cold noodles. Now there's two ways we could do this, the first being mul naengmyun, which is the noodles in a cold broth. The second way is bibim naengmyun, which is served with gochuljang, a spicy korean sauce. "Bibim" mean mixed, and that's exactly what you're supposed to do with dish. Get in there with your chopsticks and aggressively work it so that the sauce gets on every bit of noodle!

There's even a song about naengmyun which is uh, pretty popular in Korea (?).

Bibim Naengmyun Recipe

Ingredients

• Naengmyun noodles, you can find them at korean grocery stores
• Zucchini
• Carrot
• Kimchi of some sort, we used kkakdugi which is a radish kimchi
• Boiled egg
• Gochuljang
• Vinegar
• Sesame Oil
• Thinly sliced beef

1. Normally the beef is supposed to be boiled, but we made bulgogi instead. Follow any sort of bulgogi recipe and let it marinate while you're getting the rest of the dish ready. In my mother's fashion, I didn't follow any particular recipe for the bulgogi and mixed together a combination of soysauce, sesame oil, sugar, ginger and garlic which seemed right.
2. Julienne the carrot and zucchini and sauté them with a bit of sesame oil.
3. Follow the instructions on the noodle package, although what I've found is that the time that is listed is a bit longer than they should actually be cooked. Our package said 5 minutes, but we had to take it off the heat at 4. Rinse well, and make little balls of servings. My grandmother does this because like all noodles, the naengmyun gets really sticky and hard to separate after a while. It's easier to have them ready to plate than to go back into it with a pair of scissors.
4. Get that bulgogi on the stove, and I'm pretty sure there's no wrong way to cook it.
5. Put the noodles in the bowl first, and then place the various toppings, including a boiled egg, neatly on top of the noodles. Serve with gochuljang, vinegar and sesame oil on hand. Enjoy!