Mul-naengmyeon (물냉면, Cold Buckwheat Noodles)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 4 L pot for broth
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Large bowl for an ice bath
• •Shallow metal pan for broth slush
• •Large pot for boiling noodles
• •Stainless steel naengmyeon bowls or deep metal mixing bowls
• •Kitchen scissors

Instructions

1. 1

   Clear the beef

   Put the beef in a bowl of cold water for 20 minutes, changing the water once if it darkens. Drain it, cover it with fresh water in a pot, and boil 5 minutes. Discard that water, rinse the beef, and wash the pot. This first boil is not wasteful; it gives you a cleaner broth instead of a cloudy one.

2. 2

   Simmer the broth

   Return the beef to the clean pot with 8 cups cold water, the onion, scallion, garlic, ginger, and 150g radish. Bring it just to a boil, skim the surface, then lower the heat and simmer gently for 75 to 90 minutes, until the beef is tender but not falling apart. Do not let it roll hard. A rough boil breaks the broth cloudy, and naengmyeon has nowhere to hide that mistake.

   If the liquid drops below 5 cups, add hot water a little at a time. You need 4 cups finished broth for the bowls, with a little loss allowed.
3. 3

   Chill and skim

   Lift out the beef, wrap it, and refrigerate it for slicing. Strain the broth through a fine sieve, cool it in an ice bath for 20 minutes, then refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight. Lift off the solid fat once it firms. Do not leave broth cooling on the counter for half the afternoon; food is respect for life, and that includes keeping it cold when it should be cold.

4. 4

   Pickle the radish

   Toss the 250g sliced radish with 1 teaspoon kosher salt and let it stand 10 minutes. Drain the liquid, but do not rinse away all the seasoning. Toss with 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon sugar, and the gochugaru if using. Chill at least 20 minutes. The slices must be thin because this pickle is a topping, not a side dish trying to take over the bowl.

5. 5

   Season the broth

   Measure 4 cups chilled beef broth into a bowl. Add 2 cups strained dongchimi brine, 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, 2 teaspoons sugar, 2 teaspoons soup soy sauce, and 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Stir until the salt and sugar dissolve, then taste. It should be cleaner, sharper, and a little saltier than you would drink alone, because noodles and cold will soften every edge.

   If your dongchimi is very salty, start with half the salt and add the rest only after tasting. If it is very sour, reduce the vinegar by 1 tablespoon. This is why we measure and then taste.
6. 6

   Make broth slush

   Pour 1 1/2 cups of the seasoned broth into a shallow metal pan and freeze 1 to 2 hours, scraping once or twice, until it becomes loose slush. Keep the remaining broth very cold. Put the stainless serving bowls in the freezer for 20 minutes. Plain ice dilutes the bowl; broth slush keeps the seasoning honest.

7. 7

   Prepare the toppings

   Slice the chilled beef thinly across the grain. Keep the pickled radish, cucumber, pear, egg halves, and beef cold and within reach before you boil the noodles. Once the noodles are cooked, the dish moves quickly. Naengmyeon waits for no one, not even a cook looking for the pear.

8. 8

   Loosen the noodles

   Bring a large pot of water to a strong boil. If using fresh-frozen noodles, loosen them gently under cold running water first so the strands separate. Tangled noodles cook unevenly, and you cannot fix a hard clump after it has gone into the bowl.

9. 9

   Boil quickly

   Add the noodles and stir immediately. Fresh-frozen naengmyeon usually takes 40 to 60 seconds; dried noodles usually take 3 to 4 minutes. Follow the package, but taste one strand before draining. It should be springy and cooked through, with no raw center. Overcooked naengmyeon turns gummy before you can apologize to it.

10. 10

    Rinse hard

    Drain the noodles and rinse under cold running water, rubbing the strands firmly between your hands for 1 to 2 minutes, until they are cold and the rinse water runs clear. Drain hard. This washing removes surface starch, tightens the chew, and keeps the broth clear. Skip it and you have cold noodle soup, not mul-naengmyeon.

11. 11

    Assemble immediately

    Divide the noodles among the chilled stainless bowls and coil them neatly. Pour the cold broth around the noodles and scrape broth slush over the top. Arrange pickled radish, cucumber, pear, sliced beef, and half an egg on each bowl. Serve at once with Korean mustard, extra vinegar, and kitchen scissors. Taste the broth first, then sharpen your own bowl.

Chef Tips

• •Dongchimi brine should smell clean, tart, and radish-sweet. If it smells unpleasant, yeasty in the wrong way, or has a strange film, do not use it. Strain it and keep it cold until the moment you mix the broth.
• •Buy naengmyeon noodles from a Korean market. They are not the same as Japanese soba; the Korean noodles carry buckwheat with starch for that long, elastic chew. The package may say Pyongyang-style or buckwheat cold noodles.
• •A safe shortcut is using a good unsalted beef broth, then simmering a small piece of brisket in it for 25 minutes for body and garnish before chilling it hard. The unsafe shortcut is skipping the noodle rinse. That is the bite of the dish.
• •Keep mustard and vinegar on the side. Each person may sharpen the bowl, but the first sip should still taste of beef, dongchimi, and buckwheat. Let it taste like itself.
• •Stainless bowls are not just restaurant habit. They hold the cold better than ceramic, and for this dish the vessel is part of the method.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the beef broth 1 to 3 days ahead, chill it quickly, and keep it refrigerated at 40 F or below. Skim the fat after it firms. Unsalted broth can be frozen for up to 3 months.
• •Mix the seasoned broth up to 12 hours ahead and keep it very cold. Freeze the slush portion 1 to 2 hours before serving so it stays loose, not a solid block.
• •Pickle the radish and boil the eggs up to 2 days ahead. Slice the pear and cucumber the day you serve, because they lose their clean crunch after sitting too long.
• •Do not cook the noodles ahead. They stiffen, clump, and lose the chew that makes naengmyeon worth the work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 650g)