Cold Spicy Noodles - Naeng Myun

by Brenda Becker
(Kissimmee, FL)

I used to get this twice a week at a restaurant in Illinois. When I moved to Florida I could not locate any Korean restaurants and had to go without unless I was visiting Illinois. Then one day I was at a friend's church and after her service, there was a Korean service so I walked up to one of the people and asked if there was a local Korean restaurant...there was!

I was SO happy! I visited there regularly until they closed. :( I tried another restaurant, but they served it with pork, "my" dish was always served with skate. Anyway, I was craving it today and decided to try and make it myself.

I used garlic, kombucha vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, mushrooms, onion, miso, honey and dehydrated tomatoes all pureed as the sauce. I didn't have buckwheat noodles so I cut up kale into angel hair spaghetti-like pieces as the "noodles". It was pretty close!

If you know of any Korean restaurants close to me, please let me know. (Especially if they serve it with skate!)

Luna:
Buckwheat noodle dishes are called naeng myun, there are a number of varieties and they actually originate from North Korea, and became popular on the South following the Korean War.

The recipe you have used sounds great and is similar to most recipes, although I have not made it with tomatos before (will have to give it a try) I would often use Korean pears and cucumber with the noodles.

It is commonly made with pork, and served cold, its a popular noodle in the summer. Naeng myun containing Skate is a regional variation from Hamhung which is in North Korea.

I think its great that you have improvised and made the noodles from Kale, it's something that I would never have thought of and I will have to try. You should be able to get Buckwheat noodles from most Asian supermarkets, I will make a Naeng myun dish for this recipe in the next couple of months.