When I bought a cold instant noodles pack, Michael said I was crazy. His point was, who would want to have freezing cold noodles in the middle of winter? I picked it up as a back up just in case I couldn’t find buckwheat noodles for New years eve, but since I had found buckwheat noodles I didn’t need to use this packet. However as the expiry date was getting closer, I had to use it up somehow. There, that’s my excuse for cooking these in Winter.
My defense theory (for cooking these in winter) was “the smell of garlic takes away the smell of onions.” Along the same theory, there is also a Korean saying “Rule the heat with the heat and rule the cold with the cold.” Michael insisted that it is a crazy idea. So I decided to eat these noodles when Michael wasn’t around. I had my sister over for a couple of weeks now, so I decided to have the noodles with them. It didn’t make me colder than I expected (I was having noodles on a really well heated floor, so called ondol)
Though, maybe Michael was right. I would have appreciated them more if it was a hot summer day.
This is a picture of the instant packet I used. (It does look really nice, doesn’t it? Although my meal doesn’t look nearly as good as this, but as least mine is very encouraging for you to give it a try ;))
Made by CJ
Price : 3,720 won (US $ 3.90) at Homeplus
Inside of the packet (for 2 people) - It includes two packs of noodles, two packs of broth, and two packs of mustard sauce
Cooking for 2 people
- Slightly freeze the broth in its packet. (It takes about 3-4 hours)
- Boil the noodles in boiling water (7 cups) for 1 minute.
- Drain the water and rinse the noodles in cold water a couple of times.
- Put the noodles in a bowl, add the broth. You can add boiled egg, cucumber, pickled radish, pear, steamed pork etc, as a topping if you want. I only had egg and cucumber available, so I just added those two.
- Enjoy! (You can add the mustard sauce if you want)
The noodles’ taste depends 90% on the broth, and the broth was nearly as good as some restaurants in Korea (Apparently not many restaurants make the broth themselves, they buy it from the food suppliers). In my opinion, as long as you can make some effort for the toppings (more than I did), it will taste as good as you can get them from a restaurant.
Total Points for winter : 3.1 (5 is the highest)
- Taste - 4/5 (if I had more toppings, I would give 4.5/5)
- Affordable price - 4.3/5 (compared to eating it at a restaurant where one dish is usually US $5.30)
- Appropriateness for winter - 1/5 (Just writing about this post, makes me shiver. :))
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instant food, Noodles, Product Reviews
brrr, that does look cold, but I do appreciate cold noodles as I often burn my tongue on the hot ones!
I really like those noodles in summer.I’m usually too full after bbq when it’s ordered though.
Is Naegmyun a North Korean dish?I had “Pyoungyang Naengmyun” at NewCore and it seemed the same as most everywhere-beef,egg,pear,vinegar,mustard etc.
Is it normally still served in restaurants in winter?
I love naengmyun in the summer, but I’m not sure about the winter! I will look for that packet or a similar kind the next time I’m in Homever.
When I first came across Mul Naengmyeon I was telling myself how can that be eaten. Cold food doesn’t give me an impression of delicious. It doesn’t help that I have grown up eating food while it is hot. Maybe I should just try it next time to know how it tastes like.
I have not eaten cold noodles before, not even the Japanese cold soba noodles. I’ll wait till summer to try them!
Kat, Cold noodles and hot noodles both have merits. I like them both. Though I won’t encourage anyone to have cold noodles in winter anymore on my blog.
John, Yes, it is a north Korean food and the noodles you described are Pyongyang style. Unless the restaurant specialized in naemyun only, I don’t think they serve it in winter. It is quite seasonal as you know.
Gdog, Do not eat them in winter, I proved that myself two times already.
Equinox, Have them in summer, you will really appreciate them.
I can’t really get closer to the gas burner to cook in summer, it is just too hot and people lose their appetite. Then these cold noodles come in handy. They help you cool down, and their slightly sour taste encourages your appetite.
simcooks, Yeah do wait.
Its summer every day in Singapore
But the problem is . . . where to get the cold instant noodles pack in Singapore? 고민해요 >
Even instant, I think it looks very good!
Hi Equinox,
I must study geography more I think.
I thought Singapore gets colder like Taiwan even in winter. But it is a lot further South. My bad.
Don’t you have a Korean grocery store in Singapore? They should have these instant noodles there. Well, if they don’t, I will make a full recipe some other time, then you can try them.
Hi Tigerfish,
Thank you, though do you mean a picture of my meal or the picture of the packet? I hope you meant mine.
We served this as a summer special in our restaurant every summer for thirteen years. When we first started serving naengmyon, only our Korean and Japanese customers ordered it, but over time it became very popular with everyone. We served it with a very small dish of pure mustard oil and advertised it as fire and ice. (mustard oil is much hotter than wasabe or horseradish)
Hi, I am in love with cold noodle since my last trip to Seoul. Do you happened to have a recipe from scratch? Thanks!
Haha, I can’t believe this but I purchased the SAME pack of naenmyun as you did…I didn’t realize it until I recognized the mustard packet. The taste was pretty darn good, just like you described. I am responding to my own comment from above there.
WOW! Yum.. I love these cold noodles and just found a place in Taipei (Banqiao) that serves them. Where did you buy the instant packs? (Sorry I’m new to your blog!) Korea or in the states? I will totally look for them now that I know they exist.
PS Thanks for visiting my blog!
Could you find a recipe for how to make nengmyun (the soup) from scratch?
Thanks. I love your website. It is the most accurate in terms of korean cooking. The korean cookbooks just aren’t that great. Thanks for your website.
Susan
I bought a cart-full of Naengmyun from the Korean supermarket during the last week of summer, thinking it was weather-appropriate but boy did Mother Nature beat me to it with cold temperatures. I’ve never eaten them since because they were simply too cold!
Is there a way to reuse them, say for example, boiling the packaged broth and having them hot? I’ve stir-fried the noodles with meat to turn it into a mock-Japchae of some sorts but I’m running out of ideas! Thanks!
P.S. Love your blog and hope to see more great posts!