Korean Spicy Cold Noodles

By Phillips

Having lived in Korea, where summers are not only hot but extremely humid, when I think summer, I think spicy cold noodles (bibim guksu in Korean). Also, having grown up in a very hot part of California with a mother who literally forbade us to turn on the oven from June until October, I understand the importance of dishes that require little to no cooking to get us through these hottest of months. However, do not be fooled by the simplicity of preparation. Korean food, and in particular these Korean noodles, are extremely flavorful. Between the red chile paste, sesame oil and rice vinegar these noodles hit all the flavor notes: spicy, sweet, salty, tangy and nutty. Additionally, feel free to use the dressing to make any variety of cool summer dishes. It would make a great salad simply by tossing with lettuce or thinly sliced cucumbers, or even being poured over sliced cold tofu or cooked chicken.

Japanese soba (buckwheat) noodles are used for this recipe, which you can usually find the international section of the grocery store. You can also use somen noodles, Korean wheat noodles (guksu), arrow root noodles, sweet potato starch noodles, or even spaghetti or angel hair pasta. The toppings are flexible as well. Add, subtract, adjust to your taste and availability.

We first learned about cold soba noodles in Japan, where we learned to make the noodles from scratch from our hosts. Nothing is more cooling, except maybe ice cream (which makes the perfect dessert after eating a cold noodle dish).

I'm so glad you posted this... it's a fun way to use a variety of things from the garden. And those buckwheat soba noodles cook so fast the kitchen won't even have time to get hot!

These noodles are very good! I believe the recipe came out of Bon Appetit magazine many years ago with a few modifications to make it just what we wanted. This goes great with grilled salmon, chicken or grilled albacore tuna.

Toast the sesame seeds in a small skillet over medium heat, stirring, until golden and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the sesame seeds. Puree the remaining 4 tablespoons sesame seeds with the soy sauce, peanut butter, vinegar, sugar, ginger, garlic, and chile oil in a blender or food processor until smooth, about 30 seconds. With the machine running, add the hot water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the sauce has the consistency of heavy cream (you may not need all the water).

Cook the noodles in 6 quarts boiling water seasoned with the salt until tender, about 4 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water until cool. Shake out the excess water and transfer to a large bowl. Add the scallions, carrot, red pepper, and sesame sauce and toss to combine. Arrange on a serving platter (or divide among individual bowls) and sprinkle with the reserved sesame seeds.

My mom does a version of this dish over which my sis and I drool. She usually mixes the noodles with her gochujang sauce and some kimchi that's pretty fermented. It's just spicy enough to make your nose run :).

I'm currently teaching for a year here in Korea (signing up for another year, hopefully) and we're just getting into the hot humid summer. I look forward to trying bibim guksu here along with mul naengmyeon and other beat-the-heat dishes. Yum! Glad to see a recipe available for people outside Korea too!

Excellent timing, thank you for posting this. I've been looking for cold veg ideas for the summer - I love spicy sauces, so I'll make this this week.

If you want to make this, I HIGHLY recommend buying Gochujang. Without it, the dish will not taste the same!

I lived in Japan for a year working as a teacher. I love just about all Asian dishes, Korean included. I first had bibimbap at a little hole in the wall restaurant in my little rural town. This dish looks like an excellent cold variation of that. Sigh. Now I'm nostalgic

Hi Elise! Delish recipe. It is important to note that most Koreans would look at this recipe and call it Bibim Naengmyun not Bibim gooksu. The name Bibim gooksu implies that one is using basic wheat noodles, or so my Korean mother and chef has explained to me. Since you are using buckwheat noodles (albeit, a Japanese variety)the name of the dish implies the type of noodles used. Even though you can use a variety of noodles for the same recipe, the name of each dish is an important distinction. Most of us Americans couldn't care less about the nuances but I thought you might like to know! Thanks for the drool factor :)

This one looks incredle! and i do think you did a really good job! :-p btw about the name, I think 'Gooksu' is more proper than Naengmyun.(im korean too) For Naengmyun we have special type of noodle(only for Naengmyun) and except that one, we called most of the noodles as 'Gooksu' (fyi naengmyun noodle is exetremly thin like angel hair pasta and really hard to chew and cut). Also, Korean ppl called buckwheat noodles as 'Memil or Momil Gooksu'.Anyway as a big fan of your recipes, I really like you enjoyed Korean noodles and I can't wait to try your version of Bibim Gooksu! YUM !

For those of you who dislike having all the vegetables in it, you can easily leave them out and just use the noodles, eggs, kimchi, and sauce -- or even just the noodles and sauce! -- which is my favorite way to eat it. A favorite, and it is so easy to make. Just make enough that you will eat right then, though -- it doesn't really refrigerate well, in my opinion.

Lee's Deli in San Francisco sells a cold spicy noodle dish that I loved, and never knew how to make it. Guess what? Now I do! I followed the sauce instructions exactly, but just used what I had (carrots, broccoli, cucumber, tofu & leftover chicken). Very good! I did add cilantro too.

Ingredients

• 1 lb soba (buckwheat) noodles (can sub practically any favorite noodle)
• Lettuce, thinly sliced
• Green and/or red cabbage, thinly sliced
• Cucumber, julienned
• Carrot, julienned
• Asian pear, julienned
• Green onions, thinly sliced
• Sesame (perilla) leaves, thinly sliced (while traditional for this dish, you can skip)
• Radish sprouts
• Cabbage and/or radish kimchi
• 2 hard boiled eggs
• 4 Tbsp Korean red chili paste (gochu jang)*
• 4 Tbsp rice vinegar (un-seasoned or seasoned will both work)
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar (light or dark)
• 2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 2 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Details

Servings 3
Preparation time 20mins
Cooking time 30mins
Adapted from simplyrecipes.com

Preparation

Step 1

1 lb soba (buckwheat) noodles (can sub practically any favorite noodle)

hard boiled eggs

On the stovetop, fill a medium large pot with water and bring to a boil. While the water is heating, prepare toppings and the sauce. Prepare the lettuce, cabbage, cucumber, carrots, asian pear, sesame leaves and radish sprouts. Set aside. Cut each hard boiled egg in half. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine red pepper paste, rice vinegar, soy sauce, honey, brown sugar, sesame oil and sesame seeds. Stir to combine and set aside.

Once the water is boiling, add buckwheat, or other type, of noodle and cook according to package instructions, or about six minutes, until al dente. When noodles are finished cooking, pour into a collander and rinse with cold water and drain. To quickly cool your noodles you may also place a few ice cubes in the collander or place the drained noodles into the freezer for a short time, just don't forget them!

To serve, place cooled noodles in a medium sized bowl. Top with dressing and vegetables/fruit of your choice. Place one of the hard-boiled egg halves on top and a few radish sprouts.