Nyang Mun (Naengmyun) Korean cold noodle dish

[Gastro888]

Hi everyone -

Summer's here! That means heat, humidity and a good reason to eat nyang mun. This weekend, we ate nyang mun in Flushing, NY at this great Korean restaurant. (I'll post the details later). I really enjoy this dish but I have no clue how to make it. I'm sure it's super easy but if anyone would be so kind to share a recipe plus explain more details about the dish (why are some served with beef, why are some red and some clear, etc.) it would be most appreciated.

With these hot summer days coming around, I need to learn how to make something cooling, healthy and quick!

Thanks!

[SheenaGreena]

Hi everyone -

Summer's here!  That means heat, humidity and a good reason to eat nyang mun.  This weekend, we ate nyang mun in Flushing, NY at this great Korean restaurant.  (I'll post the details later). I really enjoy this dish but I have no clue how to make it.  I'm sure it's super easy but if anyone would be so kind to share a recipe plus explain more details about the dish (why are some served with beef, why are some red and some clear, etc.) it would be most appreciated.

With these hot summer days coming around, I need to learn how to make something cooling, healthy and quick!

Thanks!

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good news, if you are very lazy (such as myself) then you can get packets of nang myun kits at your local korean grocery store. They will contain a packet of frozen beef broth and a packet of dried buckwheat noodles. To make it, you boil the noodles in some water, then drain and rinse in cold water. To thaw out the broth, I leave the packet in a bowl of cold water for a few minues and then throw it into a bowl with part of it frozen. If its not cold enough, you can add ice cubes.

The key to nang myun is the temperature. It's not served cold, or at room temperature, it's served ICE cold

I like to garnish my nang myun with julienned cucumber, a hard boiled egg cut in half, some sliced pear, and a dash of hot mustard or vinegar. Rarely will I add sliced boiled beef

The difference between the nangmyuns are as follows:

mul nangmyun: nangmyun that has broth (mul is translated as water) and is usually garnished with beef and pear

bibim nangmyun: nangmyun that has no broth and is bibim (mixed) with lots of hot seasoning like gochujang, vinegar, etc.

hwe nangmyun: nangmyun that has no broth like bibim nangmyun, but has raw fish thrown in...usually raw skate. Hwe actually means raw or sashimi in english

there is also a really good nangmyun (probably my favorite) that is seasoned with young radish kimchi tops and it's kimchi juices. It's like mul nangmyun, but really spicy

[SheenaGreena]

should've added that bibimnangmyun usually has sliced sour kimchi mixed in and sliced cucumber is added. My mother makes her version this way, but everyone's is different. The key to bibim nangmyun is that there is no broth and its spicy

[SheenaGreena]

Here is a pictorial on some Bibim naengmyun (or bibim guksu, I don't know the correct name). I just made some for lunch and it took me about 15 mins

Here are the ingredients. Lettuce, salted cuke, gochujang sauce (sesame seeds, gochujang, sugar, sesame oil, and rice wine vinegar), and the buckwheat or soba noodles.

Here is the chopped up sour kimchi that I used as a garnish. It's probably 2 months old.

Pic of the noodles being rinsed in cold water

Here are the noodles and mix-ins shown bibimbap style, so you can see whats going in and what proportions.

Lastly, here are it is all mixed up and ready to eat

[Gastro888]

...mul nangmyun:  nangmyun that has broth (mul is translated as water) and is usually garnished with beef and pear

bibim nangmyun: nangmyun that has no broth and is bibim (mixed) with lots of hot seasoning like gochujang, vinegar, etc.

hwe nangmyun:  nangmyun that has no broth like bibim nangmyun, but has raw fish thrown in...usually raw skate.  Hwe actually means raw or sashimi in english

...

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Wow, thanks for the information, SheenaGreena! I really appreciate it. So how would you make this from scratch if you didn't want to buy the bags of nang myun broth? Is it very time consuming?

The mul nangmyun we had this weekend was from You-Chun Korean restaurant in Flushing, NY. It was plain nangmyun with no beef. Just the arrowroot noodles (chewy! yum!), Kerby pickles, regular pickles and white radish. No egg, though. It was good but damn, it was super salty. Is nangmyun supposed to be very salty? I've had some before that weren't so much. It was served with beef marrow soup - the milky white soup that you find in some Korean restaurants. Needless to say, that was tasty but not what I was looking for on a hot day. I wanted some iced boricha!

Thanks for your help!

[SheenaGreena]

I've never had really salty naengmyun and I have never seen naengmyun made from seollangtang broth (white bone broth). When I think of seollangtang I think of winter and snow.

naengmyun broth is really really easy. It's just boiled beef brisket or flank steak w/onion, garlic, and a little bit of sugar and vinegar

eta: I just read that some koreans will add sprite or 7up to the naengmyun broth in place of the sugar. That sounds kinda tasty to me.

Edited June 26, 2007 by SheenaGreena (log)

[Gastro888]

I like seollangtang (thanks for the info) but I agree - it was weird drinking that on a hot summer's night. Damn tasty but weird. How do you make seollangtang?

Hmm. I wonder why the naengmyun broth was so salty. It did have chili flakes in it and wasn't completely clear like what I've had before. I would've preferred more Korean pear in my bowl of noodles. It's a nice contrast to the chewiness of the noodles and the tang of the broth.

I was bloated for the next two days because of it. Good stuff but damn, it made me feel like a blimp. Does Korean food normally have alot of sodium?

[SheenaGreena]

some have a lot of salt (from preserving), but that's what the rice is for. You have to eat really salty things with a lot of rice. For example, my mom goes crazy if I take a lot of spoonfuls of dwaengjang chigae (korean miso soup) without taking bites of rice in between. "AGHHHH, TOO SALTY SHEENA!"

I think seollangtang is made from a special cut of meat and bone, but I make an oxtail version that is really similar.

You take some oxtails and soak them overnight in some water, changing the water a few times so that all the blood will come out.

Boil the bones in a lot of water, when the water comes up to a boil, throw all the water out

Boil the bones again for a second time, simmer for 6-8 hours (my mom does it overnight). Keep skimming the broth so that it's clear and milky colored.

If you want, you can boil the bones with onion and some garlic, but I just use oxtails and nothing else

when you make soup out of it, garnish the soup with salt, pepper, green onions, and some gochugaru.

[Gastro888]

Oh, interesting! Thanks, SheenaGreena!

So what am I to do with items that are not served with rice? Like pajun? Do I eat bites of that with rice to prevent an od of salt?

Are the nyangmun noodles the same as the jap che noodles?

[SheenaGreena]

panchan you eat with rice....I have no idea why they always serve it to you before the rice and main dish comes. You can pick at the panchan before the rice comes, but I would suggest eating the salty items when the rice comes. A lot of namul (vegetables) like spinach, toraji, or zucchini aren't salty so you can nibble on that before the rice comes.

the key is to not stuff your face, so you can enjoy it with your main meal.

for example, I ALWAYS nibble on panchan at my mom's before the rice and main dish comes out. panchan is always set up first, because its the easiest to assemble. Just take the tupperware container out of the kimchi fridge and throw it on the table. I usually just eat the seasoned veggies and not the salty items before I eat the rice.

turns out naengmyun is actually made from arrowroot (thats what makes it so chewy). I thought it was made from buckwheat, but i was wrong ): those are a different kind of noodle.

jap chae is made from potato starch, and isn't as chewy as naengmyun

when I was little, I thought that I was going to choke from eating naengmyun noodles because I had such a hard time chewing them

[AzianBrewer]

I went to a Korean tofu restaurant and ordered the cold noodle. The waitress warned me that their cold noodle is different from all the others. Her accent was so thick that I really didn't pay much attention. But when the noodle arrived I stared at it for about a minute before digging in. The noodle is the white thread and the broth is milky like seollangtang. It was quite refreshing but bland. Just couldn't finish it (ordered a LA Kalbi afterward). I prefer my seollangtang hot and after my soju therapy!

[Domestic Goddess]

AzianBrewer - I think you got served kalguksu where the broth is made from pureed soybeans.

[Gastro888]

I ate this awesome cold noodle dish last night in Flushing that was like bi bim bap but with cold noodles. No meat (boo!) but man, it was so tasty. The noodles were thick like kalguksu. YUM! Another cold noodle dish to my list!

[AzianBrewer]

AzianBrewer -  I think you got served kalguksu where the broth is made from pureed soybeans.

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So it is not chilled seollangtang but cold soy milk with noodle....Hmmm.

[SheenaGreena]

its soy milk with noodles and you add salt and it isn't kal guk su. Kalguksu is "knife noodles" and is made with a chicken or beef or anchovy broth. When I find the name of the soy bean soup I'll edit it in

okay, it's called Naengkongguksu and to me it tastes like wallpaper paste mixed with water and noodles

Edited June 29, 2007 by SheenaGreena (log)

[SheenaGreena]

I ate this awesome cold noodle dish last night in Flushing that was like bi bim bap but with cold noodles.  No meat (boo!) but man, it was so tasty.  The noodles were thick like kalguksu.  YUM!  Another cold noodle dish to my list!

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what else was in the dish?

[Gastro888]

The noodles were kinda thick and white and the dish had julienned veggies (carrots, cukes, red cabbage, soy sprouts, zuchinni) and some of that great gochujang with sesame seeds. It was good!

[AzianBrewer]

okay, it's called Naengkongguksu and to me it tastes like wallpaper paste mixed with water and noodles

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[Gastro888]

Mine did not taste like wall paper paste, it was some good eats! Cheap, too. I got a big bowl of it, plus 4 fried mandoo, a cup of some seafood broth soup and 5 panchan for $12 all in. (This price included $2 tip and tax)

AzianBrewer, when I get the name, I'll post it. Since you're in Bayside, you're awfully close. Try it, you'll like it. =)

[SheenaGreena]

yep I don't like that soy bean soup. My mom loves to eat it in the summer when she isn't feeling well, ie it's health food. It is soooooooooooo bland

gastro, I still have no idea what you ate. I have had cold white noodles that are really skinny, but not fat thick ones. Sounds tasty though. You should recreate the sauce I made upthread. It's so easy and you can use it for bibim naengmyun and as a dipping sauce for cuke spears.

[Gastro888]

Jol Myun! That's the name of the dish.