Naengmyeon
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| Naengmyeon | ||||||||
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 A bowl of naengmyeon. |
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Naengmyeon (hangul: 냉면; also spelled naeng-myeon, naengmyun, naeng-myun), literally "cold noodles," is a Korean dish. Originally a wintertime delicacy in the northern part of Korea which is now North Korea, it has become extremely popular throughout Korea during the summer. It consists of several varieties of thin, hand-made noodles (typically made from kudzu (칡 냉면 / chilk naengmyeon) or buckwheat (메밀 냉면 / memil naengmyeon flour) (though seaweed and green tea varieties are also available in packaged form), and is traditionally served in a large stainless bowl with a tangy iced broth, raw julienned vegetables, slices of Korean pear, and often a boiled egg and/or cold beef). Spicy mustard and vinegar are often added before consumption. A tiny clear plastic package of mustard oil is often supplied with pre-packaged naengmyeon.
[edit] Varieties
Two main varieties of naengmyeon exist: mul naengmyeon (물 냉면), and bibim naengmyeon (비빔 냉면). The former variety is served as a cold soup with the noodles contained in broth (usually beef). The latter variety is served as more of a salad in a spicy dressing made primarily from gochujang (red chili paste). In the case of bibim naengmyeon, a bowl of the broth used in mul naengmyeon is often served on the side. Although these are the two major variations of the dish, several others do exist, typically varying either the composition of the broth of mul naengmyeon, the meat or vegetables added to the noodles, or both.
Other variants of naengmyeon are hoe naengmyeon (회 냉면) and yeolmu naengmyeon (열무 냉면). The former is served with hoe, raw fish and chili pepper dressing and the latter is served along with yeolmu kimchi (baby radish kimchi, fermented with its greens) in cold broth.
Naengmyeon is typically associated with North Korea, especially the cities of Pyongyang and Hamhung, from which the two most famous varieties are said to come.
Because the noodles tend to be long, chewy, and sticky, waiters will typically ask before serving if the noodles should be cut. The noodles are cut with scissors.
[edit] Naengmyeon outside of Korea
The dish is known as reimen (Japanese: 冷麺; literally "cold noodles") in Japan and is a local specialty of Morioka, a city in the Iwate prefecture of northern Honshu, Japan.
[edit] See also
