How to make instant spicy Korean cold noodles!
A few weeks ago I promised my sister that I will make her Bibim Naengmyeon (Spicy Korean Cold Noodles, 비빔냉면) using my near expiring dried naengmyeon noodles, which I bought about a year ago. She loves Bibim Naengmyeon, and she’s been asking for it for a very long time.
So the condition for me to make Bibim Naengmyeon, was for her to babysit my little miss for a few hours – one of my main reasons for not being present on my blog and social media channels lately. I even bought some special meat from a gourmet butcher a few days ago to make beef broth for these noodles.
Then after reading my blog post title, you will be wondering what happened to that grand plan? Why the instant version instead?
Well, I was enjoying my baby free hours by going to my local swimming pool first. I did some laps then went Korean grocery shopping to restock my pantry. As soon as I got home, I made a very simple side dish – Korean pickled perilla leaves as I knew it wouldn’t take long to make. But then I ran out of time to make the “real version of Bibim Naengmyeon”. Oops!
Thankfully, I had the foresight that I wasn’t going to be able to make this real version of Bibim Naengmyeon while I was doing Korean grocery shopping, so I picked up a pack of instant Bibim Naengmyeon. Cleaver, Ha? (It’s always good to have a backup plan in case things don’t turn out as you hope. :))
So I was still able to make some Bibim Naengmyeon for my sister and the result was outstanding! My sister said this instant version was better than some restaurant versions. What a compliment! So I decided to share how I enjoyed my instant Bibim Naengmyeon with you and share my thoughts on this product.
Note: The back of the main packet does have a simple version of English & Korean instructions. However, the below ingredients and steps demonstrate how I recreated Bibim Naengmyeon for this occasion.
Ingredients for Instant Cold Noodles (Serves 3)
- Instant spicy Korean cold noodles
-Product name: Korean Style Sashimi Cold Noodles (회냉면, Hwe Naengmyeon)
-Brand name: Sura
-Manufacturer: SamJin GlobalNet
-Price: Approx AUD $13.30
-Serves 3 people
There are four main food items individually packed in the packet: Spicy pickled radish, seasoned pollock, dried noodles and spicy bibim sauce (from the top left in the picture below) Surprisingly, these are quite generous amounts for three adults to enjoy.
- 1 medium cucumber, seeds removed, julienned (optional)
- 1 1/2 hard-boiled eggs, cut in half (optional)
How to Make Instant Spicy Korean Cold Noodles
1. Take out the frozen radish pickle and pollock from the packet and defrost them on a separate plate at room temperature for about 30 mins. (This step is only necessary if they are frozen. In my case, even though I defrosted them for 30 mins, I had to separate them with my fingertips as they were still frozen. My fingertips were freezing cold! If this happens to you, just rinse your hands in warm tap water in between separating. )
2. Put some hot water into a large pot and boil it for 2 to 3 mins. (You could use cold water then it just takes longer to boil it.) Once it starts to boil, add the noodles into the pot and boil it for another 2 to 3 mins. As it boils, use a pair of tongs to shake the noodles up a bit to separate them.
3. Drain the pot and rinse the noodles in cold running water. You could add a tray of ice cubes to speed up this process – you want cold noodles. Leave the noodles in the sieve/colander until the excess water gets drained (about 30 sec to 1 min).
4. Gather one serving portion of noodles with your hand and put it into a medium-sized salad bowl. Add the pickled radish, pollock and the sauce. Optionally, you could also add cucumber and/or boiled eggs. Repeat this for the rest of the servings.
5. Serve and enjoy!
How to Eat:-
Mix all the ingredients well with your chopsticks. The most important part is mixing the sauce with the noodles thoroughly while maintaining the shape of the topping. Tricky, hey? 😉
My Verdict:
While it was very delicious, it was VERY spicy as well (even to me!). I think adding some chilled beef broth (Yuksu, 육수) would have been really great to dilute this spiciness. As it is not included in the packet, you will have to make it on your own, or purchase it separately from a Korean grocery store. This broth is usually located in the fridge section.
Alternately, you could use less bibim sauce but you can still taste and feel the spiciness despite this.
Nonetheless, I really loved having Bibim Naengmyeon this way, particularly when you need a quick Naengmyeon fix, it’s not only delicious but also very easy to prepare.
I already bought another packet and I’m very much looking forward to having it again very soon. 🙂 I hope you get to try this Naengmyeon and let us know what you thought of it.
P.S. If you like mul naengmyeon (Korean cold noodle soup), don’t forget to check that one out!
Instant Spicy Korean Cold Noodles (Bibim Naengmyeon)
Ingredients
- Instant spicy Korean cold noodles
- 1 medium cucumber seeds removed, julienned (optional)
- 1.5 hard-boiled eggs , cut in half (optional)
Instructions
- Take out the frozen radish pickle and pollock from the packet and defrost them on a separate plate at room temperature for about 30 mins. (This step is only necessary if they are frozen. In my case, even though I defrosted them for 30 mins, I had to separate them with my finger tips as they were still frozen. My finger tips were freezing cold! If this happens to you, just rinse your hands in warm tap water in between separating. )
- Put some hot water into a large pot and boil it for 2 to 3 mins. (You could use cold water then it just takes longer to boil it.) Once it starts to boil, add the noodles into the pot and boil it for another 2 to 3 mins. As it boils, use a pair of tongs to shake the noodles up a bit to separate them.
- Drain the pot and rinse the noodles in cold running water. You could add a tray of ice cubes to speed up this process – you want cold noodles. Leave the noodles in the sieve/colander until the excess water gets drained (about 30 sec to 1 min).
- Gather one serving portion of noodles with your hand and put it into a medium sized salad bowl. Add the pickled radish, pollock and the sauce. Optionally, you could also add cucumber and/or boiled eggs. Repeat this for the rest of the servings.
- Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition Info (per serving)
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
