Kalguksu

Hand-rolled wheat noodles cooked in the broth rather than beside it, so the starch they shed is what thickens it.

Fish. Not vegetarian — contains fish.

Ingredients

For the noodles

• 350 g plain flour
• 170 ml cold water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon oil
• extra flour, for dusting

For the soup

• 1.5 litres anchovy and kelp stock, as on its own page
• 1 potato, in thin half moons
• 1 courgette, in matchsticks
• 1 onion, sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 spring onions, sliced
• salt and black pepper

Method

1. THE NOODLES ARE COOKED IN THE BROTH AND THE STARCH IS WHAT THICKENS IT. This is the opposite of what you would do with almost any other noodle, and it is deliberate: the flour that comes off them turns a thin stock into something with body that clings to the noodle. Boiled separately and rinsed, as the naengmyeon on this site must be, you get noodles sitting in a watery soup and the dish has no character at all.
2. WHICH MEANS THE BROTH CANNOT BE MADE AHEAD WITH THE NOODLES IN IT. They keep absorbing and keep shedding: twenty minutes after cooking there is almost no liquid left and what there is has set. This is made and eaten, with nothing standing.
3. THE EXCESS DUSTING FLOUR IS SHAKEN OFF FIRST, hard, in a sieve. Starch from the noodle is wanted; a tablespoon of loose flour off the board is not, and it makes the soup pasty rather than silky.
4. THE DOUGH IS REST'D AN HOUR AND ROLLED THIN. Rested, the gluten relaxes and it rolls to two millimetres without fighting back; unrested it springs back and the noodles end up thick and doughy.
5. AND IT IS ROLLED UP AND CUT WITH A KNIFE, which is what the name says. Floured sheet folded loosely into a flat roll, then cut across in 3 mm strips and shaken out. The slight irregularity is correct and is why they hold the broth.
6. Flour and salt mixed, the water and oil added, and kneaded 8 minutes to a firm smooth dough -- firmer than a bread dough.
7. Wrapped and RESTED 1 HOUR at room temperature.
8. Meanwhile the stock brought to a simmer with the onion, garlic and soy sauce. The potato added and cooked 8 minutes.
9. The dough rolled on a well-floured board to 2 mm, turning and re-flouring, to a large sheet.
10. Dusted generously, folded into a loose flat roll, and CUT ACROSS into 3 mm strips with a sharp knife.
11. The strips shaken out and the EXCESS FLOUR SHAKEN OFF in a sieve.
12. The broth brought to a rolling boil and the noodles added, stirred gently to separate.
13. Cooked 4 to 5 MINUTES. The courgette added for the last 2.
14. Tasted and salted. It should have visibly thickened.
15. Ladled into bowls at once, spring onions and plenty of pepper over, with kimchi as on its own page alongside.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under South Korea · All recipes