Naengmyeon 냉면 Korean Cold Noodles

We are such difficult creatures to please aren't we??? It's either too hot, too cold, too wet or not enough rain!!! or is it just me??? Well if you are not in Melbourne at the moment, we are currently enduring our 4th consecutive day over 35 degrees C and the outlook for the next few days isn't looking too good either!! I have planned to make Korean cold noodles since Saturday after experiencing the unwelcomed early arrival of summer but never really planned my shopping list in advance. So just when I thought I was so clever about not having to do too much cooking in my hot kitchen, I realised I needed to go all the way to Richmond in such unbearable heat to get all the ingredients needed for the dish! Bugger!!! :(
Naengmyeon means cold noodles in Korean (冷麵 in hanja), tasty icy cold beef or pork broth is pour over the noodles top with pickles, beef or pork slices and hard boiled egg. It might sound a little weird if not totally confronting if you have never tasted this before; it won't take long for you to become a convert once you have tasted it especially on such hot days!!! It cools your body down immediately, and I feel I can wait another day before I complain about the heat again.

P.S I would like to thank my friend K and his mother for revealing their family recipe to me!!! Gamsahamida!!

serves 4 as a one dish meal
for the broth you'll need;
500g of beef rump, tied
1 onion, peeled and halved
4 cloves of garlic
1.5 l of water
salt and pepper to taste
place everything in a pot and simmer for 1.5 hour

for the toppings;
2 eggs, hard boiled, halved
2 lebanese cucumber, thinly sliced lengthwise, sprinkled with 1tbs of salt, sugar and vinegar, drained
2 carrots, thinly sliced lengthwise, sprinkled with 1tbs of salt, sugar and vinegar, drained
1/2 daikon, thinly sliced lengthwise, sprinkled with 1tbs of salt, sugar and vinegar, drained. Mixed with 1tbs of Korean chili powder
1/2 nashi pear, thinly sliced
Beef from making the broth, thinly sliced across the grains

you'll also need;
1 packet of naengmyeon noodle 
Korean mustarrd
rice vinegar
Korean soy sauce

Simmer everything for 1.5 hours. remove beef set aside. Strain stock, add in 2tbs of sugar, 2tbs of vinegar and salt to taste, chill until needed.

Have the toppings ready, meanwhile cook the noodles for  2 to 3 minutes and rinse with cold water for about a minute, drain well.

Place noodles in a large bowl, add beef slices and pickled daikon slices.

Add nashi pear slices, pickled cucumbers and carrots.

Pour chilled broth over and top with half an egg. Add some ice cubes if you want the broth to be colder.

Add a dollop of korean mustard, dash of rice vinegar and dash of soy. Mix it all up and enjoy the chewy noodles with the chilled refreshing broth!!!

You can also get this ready made beef broth for naengmyeon from the Korean grocer, you just have to prepare the toppings and cook the noodles! I must say that the beef broth that came out of the plastic bags tasted pretty good to me but I'll still encourage everyone to make your own.