Nehng-myun is a cold Korean noodle soup. An ultimate summer dish that can have a bit of a kick (I like to go heavy on the hot mustard oil).
The keys to really good nehng-myun are the broth and the noodles. Proper broth requires a bit of experimentation; it’s a rough combination of beef broth, chicken broth, soy sauce, and rice wine vinegar.
The noodles are a matter of smart shopping — look for noodles that are made primarily of buckwheat flour. Lesser flours (wheat, yam, rice) should be kept secondary at best. If buckwheat is the first ingredient listed, you should be good to go.
Ingredients:
- 1 lb beef brisket or flank steak
- 1/2 an onion (optional)
- Nehng-myun noodles (look for ones with buckwheat as the primary ingredient)
- chicken broth
- soy sauce
- rice wine vinegar (you could substitute kimchi-mul for this)
Optional additions:
- cucumbers
- boiled eggs
- kimchi
- hot (mustard) dressing oil
- ice cubes
Beef broth:
- Cut steak into large chunks
- Boil 4 cups of water
- Add steak and onion
- Boil for 20 minutes, occasionally skimming off the scum at the top
- Let cool and put into the fridge
- Skim fat off top. Remove the beef chunks.
Assembling the nehng-myun:
- Noodles
- Boil water
- Add nehng-myun noodles. These cook very quickly (about 1-2 minutes), so keep an eye on them. Once they seem limp (less than al dente), drain them and rinse them under cold water to stop them from cooking.
- Combine in bowls roughly equal portions of beef and chicken broth. Adjust and add soy sauce and rice wine vinegar to taste.
- Add noodles
- Break apart the beef into bite-sized strips and add them to the broth.
- Add cucumbers, boiled eggs, kimchi. Cucumbers can be sliced into coins or thin matchsticks. Boiled eggs can be cut into halves or thinner slices. You can sometimes specifically ask for nehng-myun kimchi, which is light and refreshing.
- The hot dressing oil is VERY spicy. Add sparingly.
- I like to add ice cubes to my nehng-myun to make it extra cold.
