Mul-naengmyeon, Korean Cold Noodles in Soup

물냉면

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healthy

soup

nut free

gluten free

prep time:

60 min

inactive time:

240 min

cooking time:

120 min

total time:

180 min

INGREDIENTS

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2 tbs	Sugar 설탕 (more or less to your preference)
2 tbs	Vinegar 식초 (more or less to your preference)
1½ tsp	Salt 소금 (more or less to your preference)
14 oz	buckwheat noodles 냉면국수 (for NAENGMYEON, NOT soba or maemil-about 130g/serving)
¼	Cucumber 오이 (depending on your taste)
¼	Korean Pear 배 (depending on your taste)
For hard boil eggs
1½	Egg 계란
½ tsp	Salt 소금
For making the broth (to yield about 2L)
9 oz	Beef, flank 양지
9 oz	Ox (leg) Bone 사골 (optional-if you don't have it, increase the amount of beef)
8¼ cups	Water 물
¼	Korean Pear 배
1 oz	Korean Radish 무
¾	Onion (Medium) 양파
1	Green Onion 파
1½ tsp	Hot pepper seeds 고추씨
1½ tsp	Garlic (minced) 다진 마늘
¾ tsp	Ginger (minced) 다진 생강
1 tbs	Soy Sauce for Soup (Gukganjang) 국간장
For serving on the side
1 tbs	Korean mustard paste, Geoja 겨자
3 tbs	Vinegar 식초
For radish water kimchi for naengmyeon (to yield about 1 L) (Optional)
2½ cups	Water 물
2½ tsp	Sugar 설탕
1 tbs	Coarse Sea Salt 굵은 소금
⅛	Onion (Medium) 양파
¾ tsp	Garlic (minced) 다진 마늘
½ tsp	Ginger (minced) 다진 생강
¼	Green Onion 파
2 oz	Korean Radish 무
¼	Korean Pear 배
For making pickled radish for naengmyeon (Optional)
4 oz	Korean Radish 무
3 tbs	Vinegar 식초
3 tbs	Sugar 설탕 (optional)
1 tbs	Coarse Sea Salt 굵은 소금
2 tsp	Gochugaru, Korean Hot Pepper Flakes 고춧가루

tips:

Good to Know
Beef broth and radish kimchi water Ratio: The perfect ratio is beef broth: radish kimchi water=2:1.
However, radish kimchi water is not necessary. If you don’t have any radish kimchi water, simply increase the amount of the beef broth.

Optional Ingredients and Substitutions
Beef bones: If you don’t have the beef bones, increase the amount of beef. However, without beef bone the soup will not have the same depth.
Radish kimchi water: If you don’t have time to make it, just increase the about of beef broth. Or if you happened to have radish water kimchi (dongchimi), simply use the juice from the kimchi.
Pickled Radish: If you don’t have time to make it, you can simply omit. However, it will not be as tasteful as the ones you get from restaurants.
Beef broth: You can use the anchovy broth or chicken broth instead of beef broth.

More questions? Please leave your questions below in the comments section. We will do our best to answer as soon as we can.

instructions	photos	summary
Ingredient amounts in the recipe instructions are for the default serving size.	Click to enlarge photos.	Ingredient amounts in the recipe summary are for the default serving size.
1. Make radish kimchi water (Optional) Peel, wash and julienne (or slice) ¼ onion, ½ green onion, ½ Korean pear and 4 oz (100g) Korean radish.		1 Peel, wash and julienne ¼ onion ½ green onion ½ Korean pear 4 oz Korean radish.
2. Make radish kimchi water (Optional) Place the prepared vegetables in a mixing bowl and add ½ tablespoon of minced garlic, 1 teaspoon of minced ginger, 1½ tablespoons of sugar, and 2 tablespoons of coarse salt. Mix well. Place it in a container and pour 5 cups of water. Seal and let it ferment for 3 days at room temperature. This will yield about 1 liter of radish water. (This recipe is for making the radish kimchi water for naengmyeon ONLY. It’s not a proper radish kimchi recipe. Radish and other vegetables are not edible.)		2 Mix well prepared vegetables ½ tbs minced garlic, 1 tsp minced ginger 1½ tbs sugar 2 tbs salt Pour 5 cup water Keep in a container seal ferment 3 days room temperature 1L radish kimchi water yielded
3. Make pickled radish 1 (Optional) Peel, wash and slice 8 oz (227g) Korean radish very thinly (⅜” x 2” x 1/16” or 1cm X 5cm X 0.2cm). In a bowl, mix the sliced radish and 2 tablespoon of coarse sea salt. Let it sit for 30 minutes. (Optional: If it’s too salty after 30 minutes, rinse once and squeeze the water out.)		3 8 oz radish peel wash slice 1/16” thin. Mix sliced radish 2 tbs coarse sea salt let it sit 30 min
4. Make pickled radish 2 (Optional) Add 6 tablespoons of vinegar and 6 tablespoons of sugar and sprinkle 4 teaspoons of red chili flakes (optional) through a fine strainer. Mix well with your hand. Put it in a container and refrigerate it for at least 3 hours.		4 Add 6 tbs vinegar 6 tbs sugar 4 tsp red chili flakes (optional) through fine strainer Mix well Refrigerate 180+ min
5. Prepare beef and bones for broth Soak beef and beef bones in cold water for 2-3 hours. Drain the water out and thoroughly wash the bones by rubbing them hard with your hands under cold running water.		5 Soak beef and bones 180 min Drain water Wash bones in cold water
6. Boil Boil 16½ cups (4L or about 1 gallon) of water in a pot. Add the meat and the bones in the boiling water and keep boiling on high heat with a lid on for 1.5 hours.		6 Boil 16½ cups water Add meat and bones Keep boiling High Heat 90 min
7. Prepare vegetables for broth Peel, wash and cut 2 oz (50g) of Korean radish, 1½ onion, 2 green onions and ½ Korean pear (optional) in small pieces. Cutting vegetables into small pieces shortens the time for making the broth.		7 Peel, wash and cut 2 oz Korean radish 1½ onion 2 green onion ½ Korean pear
8. Remove the meat After 1.5 hours of boiling, remove the meat and the bones from the pot. Set aside the meat and let it cool. Leave the broth in the pot.		8 Take out meat and bones Save, cool and slice meat
9. Boil vegetables Put the prepared vegetables in the boiling broth. (TIP: Taking out the meat before adding the vegetables will keep the meat more flavorful.) Add 1 tablespoon of minced garlic, ½ tablespoon of minced ginger, 1 tablespoon of hot pepper seeds (optional) and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce for soup (josean ganging a.k.a guk ganging) and boil on high heat for 30 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it cool.		9 Add prepared vegetables 1 tbs minced garlic ½ tbs minced ginger 1 tbs hot pepper seeds (optional) 2 tbs soy sauce (for soup) Boil High Heat 30 min Turn off heat
10. Strain Strain the broth through a strainer or cheesecloth. This will yield about 2 liters of beef and vegetable broth. If you want to completely get rid of fat. Keep the broth in the fridge until cold, then strain it once more.		10 Strain 2L broth yielded
11. Slice the meat Slice the meat and set it aside.		11
12. Mix broth and kimchi water Mix 2 liters of beef broth and 1 liter of radish kimchi water. Add more 4 tablespoons of sugar, 4 tablespoons of vinegar and 1 tablespoon of salt (more or less to your liking). Place the broth in the freezer until some ice chunks are formed but before it’s completely frozen. (Using ice cubes to make/keep the broth cold will make the broth too bland.)		12 Mix 2L beef broth 1L radish kimchi water Add (optional-depending on your taste) 4 tbs sugar 4 tbs vinegar 1 tbs salt Freeze until thin ice on top
13. Hard boil eggs (Optional) Place 3 eggs (or more as you desire) in a pot of water so that they are at least half immersed in the water. Add 1 teaspoon of salt. Boil for 15 minutes. Immediately cool them in cold water and peel off the shells. Cut in half.		13 Hard boil eggs 3 eggs 1tsp salt 15 min High Heat Cool in cold water Peel Cut in ½
14. Prepare garnish 1 Wash & peel ½ cucumber. Cut into 2” (or 5cm) long pieces and peel the flesh thinly while turning to create a thin sheet of cucumber flesh. Do not use the middle part (seeds). Julienne the cucumber flesh. (If this method is too hard, just use the regular method of julienning cucumber.)		14 ½ cucumber wash & Peel cut into 2” (or 5cm) long peel thinly while turning discard seeds julienne
15. Prepare garnish 2 Wash, peel and thinly slice (or julienne) ½ Korean pear.		15 ½ Korean pear wash peel slice (or julienne) thinly
16. Cook noodles Cook 6 servings of the buckwheat noodles in boiling water for about 3-4 minutes or until soft and drain water. It is important that you do not overcook the noodles. Rinse the noodles in COLD water immediately. Rinse a few more times in COLD water while GENTLY putting your fingers through the noodles until there is no starch coming out. (Follow the directions of the noodle package.) Completely drain the water out in a strainer and divide the noodles into 6 servings right away.		16 Boil water Cook 6 servings buckwheat noodles 3 min Drain water Rinse COLD WATER serveral times Drain Divide in 6
17. Serve Place the noodles in each serving bowl and top with a few slices of Korean pear, sliced meat, julienned cucumber, picked radishes, and a half hard-boiled egg. Pour the chilled broth over the noodles right before serving without touching the garnish. Serve with vinegar and geoja (Korean mustard paste) on the side. Before eating, people can add vinegar and geoja to their liking and mix them in thoroughly in the soup.		17 Noodles in each bowl Garnish Korean pear meat cucumber pickled radishes ½ boiled egg Pour chilled broth On the side vinegar Korean mustard paste