Bibim Nengmyun
Hello! So do you all know the world famous Sarah Park, aka my mom?…You don’t? Hm, that’s weird. She’s the best Korean food cook in the WHOLE WORLD. Yep. I said it and I truly, 100% mean it. If anyone tries to challenge me on this one…….. lets not even go there, bc it would most likely begin with a lot of aggressive name calling, in broken-Korean, and end with some sort of Dance Dance Revolution contest and well…..that’s just severely awkward. Anyways, I know “mom/dad’s cooking” is a very personal thing to many people and I just love that! I mean I’m definitely someone who credits my passion for food and cooking to my parents, who were shoving things like fish heads, tiny fermented shrimp and hot pots down my throat from a very early age.
How is it that moms can whip the same dish together using different ingredients each time or swap this for that and so on; yet the dishes always seem to taste the exact same?…totally awesome and perfect! I’m amazed sometimes at how my mom’s mind works in the kitchen. She’ll start making something like kimchi…realize halfway through she doesn’t have rice flour to thicken her kimchi paste/sauce and without even flinching she’ll grab a potato, boil it, grind it and stir it in as her starchy thickening agent. Pure brilliance, me thinks. No, it’s not rocket science, just wonderful mom hands at work, putting love and care into every single dish
This recipe is one of those dishes that my mom will tweak here and there depending what she’s got in the pantry and it’s one of my absolute favorites and great to eat yr round. I do want to give a bit of warning because this dish is spicy. It’s the kind of spicy that doesn’t hit you right away, but then 5 minutes later you feel your face burning up and you’re wiping the sweat off your nose. You can definitely lessen the “spicy” by adding a small amount of honey to the mixture. The cucumbers and egg also serve as a “mouth cooler downer”. Oh and guess what?? This recipe is GLUTEN-FREE (if you use tamari instead of soy sauce). Take away the egg and boom. It’s VEGAN too! Didn’t think us bacon loving ladies had it in us did ya?! Enjoy!
xx Jenny
Note: I’ve actually never ever participated in any form of Dance Dance Revolution, so there!…not ALL Asians do it. I am a terrible driver though, so there’s that
Bibim Nengmyun (Buckwheat Noodles Tossed with a Hot Pepper Sauce)
Serves 2-3
Ingredients:
8 ounces Korean-style buckwheat noodles
yangnyum sauce:
1/3 cup gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 ½ tablespoon low sodium soy sauce or tamari (premium soy sauce)
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
garnish:
1-2 hard boiled eggs, halved
¼ small hothouse cucumber, julienne
Directions:
1. Place the ingredients for the sauce in a small mixing bowl and whisk together until fully combined.
2. Fill a pot with water and bring to a boil. Once the water has come to a boil, drop the noodles in and stir.
3. Boil the noodles until they soften, about 3 minutes.
4. Drain into a strainer rinse under cold water until the noodles become cold to the touch.
5. Place the noodles in a large mixing bowl and toss together with the hot pepper sauce (yangnyum) until all the noodles are well coated.
6. Divide the noodles into individual bowls and top each with a small pile of cucumber strips, ½ a hard boiled egg and a sprinkle of sesame seeds.
October 28, 2011 · Everyday Recipes · 41 comments · PRINT
{ 38 comments… read them below or add one }
I am positively crazy for buckwheat noodles so I’m so so stoked you posted this recipe
Thank you so much for sharing your mom’s recipe! I LOVE Korean food, but I haven’t seen a lot of blogs post really authentic recipes…can’t wait to try this at home.
I’m so glad you like Korean food! There’s much more to come!!!
It looks SOOOOOO beautiful! Where can I find the hot pepper paste (maybe that’s a dumb question), but will the regular grocery store have it or would I have to go to a specialty store? I LOVE sesame, but I may have to cut back on the spice — I’m a wimp when it comes to spice!
Hi Caroline! I’m not sure if you can get the hot pepper paste at a regular grocery store (maybe in the “Asian” section?). Korean/Asian market is your best bet. Yes, totally cut back a bit on the hot pepper paste if spicy freaks you out. The honey or addition of a little more sugar also really helps mellow things out. You can also add toasted pine nuts, which I do from time to time. Hope this was helpful!
Ooh, yes. Love toasted pine nuts! This sounds divine. I bet this is such a good comfort food too!
yes! Korean food is where it’s at…I think it’s in the Korean DNA to believe our mom’s are the best cooks around. I’m so glad you posted this! Every time I see Korean recipes, I can’t help but feel little tingles of pride. I have those noodles in the pantry and gochujang in my fridge…I need to make this asap!
hi! i love your site; i’m scared of cooking but your recipes almost make me brave enough to try
quick correction, though – this recipe isn’t gluten-free unless you use tamari in place of soy sauce. it’s a nitpicky thing, obviously, but just in case you have g-free rookies here! *v*
Eee! Thank you, totally our mistake!! We’ll change it right now! (I’m kind of a gluten-free rookie myself, forgive me!)
I’ve gone blind at the beauty.
Eggs may be vegetarian, but they’re not vegan
Correct! But if you read the description, it says its only vegan if you remove the egg.
This looks amazing! I have a mom who makes everything magic with onion soup mix and stewed tomatoes. I swear, with every time I call and ask her what I can make for dinner with random things in my kitchen she asks if I have stewed tomatoes. And it works.
Moms make everything better. Can’t wait to become one of those moms. And that bad driver comment made me laugh outloud in the coffee shop. People starred at me. THANKS!
haha, sadly tis true though. VERY true.
I mean, so what if sometimes bright colors and moving objects distract me from keeping my eyes on the road…right?
I took off my side view mirror today, so I think I am in your club now.
I would absolutely love it if you featured a good old fashioned Galbi/Kalbi Chim. I love this dish, and cannot find it anywhere.
Noted!
YES! I have a great Kalbi-Jim recipe…compliments of my mama!!! AND it’s getting to be the perfect time of yr for yummy, Korean Braised Short Rib Stew. We have a lot of things in the works for November already, but if you check back mid-December…I’ll make sure it’s there
Thank you! I’ll be looking forward to it.
I know very little about Korean food – but I know my husband would adore these spicy noodles – we’re all fine with the sweat running down our faces type of heat in our house.
This sounds freaking delicious! Love this!
Love Korean food and am definitely trying this out! Thanks!
Wow, I just found this blog and I LOVE it. I’m an Australian who lived in the US for a year and the recipes on here remind me of all the foods I miss from the States. What I especially love about this blog is that all the recipes are infinitely do-able… no sourcing of tricky ingredients or needing specialised equipment. Amazing work! I’m your newest fan!!
I’m a Korean who thrives on perspiration-inducing, tongue-burning, lip-numbing spicy food. This nengmyun fits the bill all the way around. It also brought back memories of traveling to Korea when I was younger and stopping at a noodle restaurant with my parents and uncle. When I opted for a dish similar to yours here, I was the object of awe by the natives who couldn’t believe I tolerated–and enjoyed–the heat
Thanks for this yummy, simple recipe. I’m not one to cook Korean, but maybe I should start. BTW, my Canadian husband loved it, too, though he (and I) had to run for some yogurt to cut the fire in our mouths.
Call me lame… but how do you correctly pronounce the name of this recipe? :/
omg best post ever! as a half-korean, i have enjoyed my fair share of my momma’s delicious korean cooking. thanks so much for a recipe since my mom has none… it’s always by look & taste. by the way, did i mention how excited i am for this??!?
I have my grandma’s cookbook and am frequently using it. This looks SO yummy!!!
Did someone say hot pepper sauce? I’m addicted to spicy food. This is a must try. Looks yummy.
I have been on such a K-food bender lately, and I’m scrolling through your site and come across this? I just bought a fresh container of Gochujang and a brand new pkg of soba yesterday at my local Asian market… I am SO having this for dinner tonight! I love your blog, bring on more of your mom’s recipes! Clearly, you like spicy food, so here’s one for you, check out the recipe on food52 for “Rooster”, it’s a recipe for homemade siracha sauce and it’s SOOOO good, you’ll never buy it again!
i LOVE this post! i’m going to trawl your blog to see what other korean recipes you have (i hope you have more!) as I LOVE korean food. This recipe sounds fabulous!
Hi Charity! Sadly this is our only Korean recipe we’ve posting so far….but this is ONLY bc we’re new! Give us a bit of time and you’ll begin to see Korean recipes pop up here and there.
I will tell you this much…Galbi Jim (braised short rib stew) is going to be the next Korea recipe up
Thanks for reading! xx
Yum, this sounds and looks fabulous, not too many ingredients either! A winner!
I stumbled upon your blog via pinterest and saw that you posted one of my very favorite Korean dishes! I’ve never had “homemade” bibim naengmyeon but I’m STOKED to try this. Seems really easy and I have a Korean market nearby. Thanks so much!
i made this on sunday night and it was the BOMB. love how spicy the gochujang is!!! i can’t wait to make it again!
Yes!! So glad you liked it… I was slightly paranoid about posting this recipe, but your comment alone made it totally worth it
I love this! I just had some bibim guksu the other day… and it was amazing! I can’t wait to try nengmyeon. I definitely need it.
I want to buy your book anyhow…but now I really want to buy it just because you have Korean recipes in it! I actually LIVE in Korea (and – hushed voice – um, don’t actually like nengmyong…) but I’m so thrilled that there are chefs out there getting the tastes and names of Korean food out there right along with the Western classics….and becoming as popular as the Japanese equivalents! People should know ‘gochujang’ as a condiment right alongside ‘wasabi’, and ‘kalbi’ should be as familiar as ‘tofu’ (um, sorry, ‘tubu’…).
It always annoys me to visit my relatives back overseas in Toronto and see the many Korean restaurants that have to advertise themselves as ‘JAPANESE and Korean’ or just say ‘Asian Food’ with the hangul discreetly underneath, because us ignorant waegukin don’t know what eating Korean is… Let’s get the words and the flavours out there – Korean, with its earthy, natural, local, healthy ingredients and its great tastes, is poised to become the next global ‘food fashion’!
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