Kimchimari-guksu (김치말이국수, Kimchi Brine Noodles)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •2-quart saucepan
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Large pot, 4-quart or larger
• •Colander
• •Large bowl for ice bath
• •Two stainless serving bowls

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the broth

   Put 2 1/2 cups water, the anchovies, and the kelp in a 2-quart pot. Bring it to a quiet simmer over medium heat. Pull the kelp out as soon as the water trembles, because kelp left to boil gives bitterness and a slick body this clean bowl does not want. Simmer the anchovies 8 minutes more, strain, and measure 2 cups broth. Set the bowl of broth in ice water and stir until cold, 10 to 15 minutes.

   Take the heads and dark guts out of the anchovies before they go in. That is where the harshness sits.
2. 2

   Season the brine

   Whisk together the 2 cups cold broth, 3/4 cup strained kimchi brine, sugar, and soup soy sauce. Add 2 teaspoons of the vinegar first, taste, then add the last teaspoon only if the broth tastes dull. It should be a little too sharp and salty to drink plain, because somyeon will mute it. If it bites too hard, add cold water 1 tablespoon at a time, no more than 4 tablespoons. If it tastes flat, add 1 tablespoon more kimchi brine.

   Use brine from refrigerated kimchi that smells cleanly sour and garlicky. Fizz is normal. Mold, slime, or a rotten smell means that jar does not belong in a cold noodle bowl.
3. 3

   Dress the kimchi

   Slice the kimchi across the leaves into 1/4-inch strips. Toss it with the sesame oil, 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds, and half the scallion. This separate seasoning matters: the topping should taste like kimchi, nutty and sharp, not like cabbage pulled wet from the jar.

4. 4

   Ready the toppings

   Julienne the cucumber, halve the egg, cut the gim, and chill two stainless bowls if you have them. Everything waits except the noodles. Once somyeon is cooked, you rinse, drain, and serve without wandering away.

5. 5

   Boil the somyeon

   Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and add the somyeon, stirring right away so the strands do not clump. When the pot rises, splash in 1/2 cup cold water; repeat once if it rises again. Cook 3 to 4 minutes total, until a strand has no chalky center but still has a little spring.

6. 6

   Rinse hard

   Drain the noodles and rinse under cold running water, rubbing them between your hands for 60 to 90 seconds. When the water runs mostly clear and the noodles feel cold and springy, drain hard. This washing removes surface starch; without it the broth turns cloudy and the noodles go soft.

7. 7

   Assemble cold

   Divide the noodles between the chilled bowls and coil them with chopsticks or clean hands. Pour about 1 1/4 cups seasoned broth around each portion, or 1 cup broth plus 2 small ice cubes if your kitchen is hot. Top each bowl with half the dressed kimchi, cucumber, egg, gim, remaining scallion, and the extra sesame. Eat at once, before the somyeon drinks the broth.

   Notebook 31 says 8 parts clear broth to 3 parts kimchi brine for this bowl. More brine is not always more flavor. Sometimes it is only more salt.

Chef Tips

• •Use sour baechu-kimchi, not fresh geotjeori (quick fresh kimchi). The leaf should be seasoned all the way through and the brine should taste tart, salty, and alive. Fresh kimchi gives color but not the depth this bowl needs.
• •If your jar is short on brine, blend 1/2 cup chopped kimchi with 1/2 cup cold broth for 10 seconds, then press it through a fine sieve. Use that strained liquid as part of the 3/4 cup brine measure.
• •The safe shortcut is prepared anchovy broth or a packet of plain chilled naengmyeon broth. Still balance it with real kimchi brine, and still rinse the noodles hard. The vessel and the schedule may modernize; the noodle washing may not.
• •For a vegetarian bowl, leave out the anchovies and simmer the kelp with 2 dried shiitake mushrooms for 10 minutes. Use kimchi made without fish sauce or salted shrimp, or the dish is not vegetarian no matter what the broth says.

Advance Preparation

• •The anchovy-kelp broth can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated. If the broth is already cold, this becomes a 20-minute weeknight bowl.
• •The seasoned broth can be mixed up to 24 hours ahead and kept cold. Taste again before serving, because cold dulls salt and sourness.
• •The kimchi topping can be sliced and dressed up to 4 hours ahead. Add the gim only at the table so it stays crisp.
• •Do not boil somyeon ahead. It swells, sticks, and loses the clean bite that makes this bowl worth eating.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 800g)