Mul Naengmyeon

The Method for Mul Naengmyeon

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1. Soak the beef in cold water for 1 hour, changing the water twice, to draw out blood for a clear broth.

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2. Simmer it with the 2 litres of water, onion, garlic, ginger and spring onions for 2 hours, skimming regularly. Never let it boil hard.

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3. Strain the broth, discard the aromatics, and press the beef under a weight for an hour, then slice it very thinly.

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4. Season the broth with the soy sauce, salt, vinegar, sugar and the radish kimchi brine if you have it. Taste — it should be noticeably sharp and salty.

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5. Chill the broth for at least 6 hours, then transfer it to the freezer for 90 minutes until slushy with ice crystals.

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6. Cook the noodles in plenty of boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes — they cook very fast.

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7. Drain and wash them under cold running water, massaging with both hands, until they are cold and squeaky. Finish in an ice bath.

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8. Coil the drained noodles into deep metal bowls.

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9. Pour the icy broth over, arrange the beef, pear, cucumber, egg and pickled radish on top, and serve with vinegar and mustard for each person to add.

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Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.

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Things to Watch For

1. The broth must be freezing, with visible ice. Merely cold broth makes a flat, disappointing bowl.
2. Serve scissors with the bowls. Naengmyeon noodles are famously hard to bite through.
3. Season the broth more heavily than tastes right at room temperature — cold mutes salt considerably.

Common Substitutions & Variations

• Out of spring onions? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.
• If you only have ground ginger, a quarter-teaspoon for each tablespoon of fresh is the ratio usually given; it tastes warmer and less bright than the fresh root.
• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.

A Little Background

The broth is chilled until ice crystals begin to form, which both makes it genuinely refreshing and slightly dulls the salt, so it is seasoned more aggressively than it would be warm. Rinsing and massaging the cooked noodles under cold water removes surface starch and firms them into the springy, almost rubbery texture the dish is known for.

On the Table Alongside

Korean barbecue, as the traditional finish to a grilled meal · Kimchi · Cold barley tea

Storing Leftovers

The broth keeps 5 days refrigerated and freezes 2 months. Cook the noodles fresh for every serving.

Quick Answers

Mul Naengmyeon Nutrition

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

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