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Spicy and sweet Korean cold noodles for an easy but additive meal, particularly suitable for a hot day!
Korean cold noodles come in many varieties with different types of noodles like Korean thin wheat, soba or buckwheat noodles and also have a variety of different spicy sauces. Today, we’ll be using Korean thin wheat noodles with a spicy sauce that was the center of Kang’s Kitchen Season 2 TV show.
Famous “gagman” Kang Ho Dong is in charge of noodles and is responsible for a few kinds from cold to hot but the spicy cold noodles take off because the cold noodles and addictive spicy sauce are perfect for the summer heat. Korean thin wheat noodles are used for this bowl which are thin and chewy for a delightful texture. Celebrity chef Baek Jong Won makes another appearance on the show to teach Kang Ho Dong how to make the spicy sauce. His recipe is for 60 servings (!) though and obviously too much for home! I’ve adopted the recipe to make enough sauce for about 4 bowls. The sauce goes really well with the chewy noodles and you can either make a batch for 4 people or keep it in the fridge for 4 separate meals!
Sauce Recipe for 60 if you wish! Read down below at the recipe section if you want to make it for 4!
*Baek Jong Won uses a plastic cup when teaching which approximates to about 160-180 ml and not 240. The recipe for 60 has 1 cup = the plastic cup but the recipe for 4, I’ve adopted to our normal 240 ml cup.
*This recipe uses go-eun gochugaru. Go-eun means “fine” – the flakes are much thinner than the standard gochugaru but usually both are readily available in a Korean grocery store. Standard gochugaru is used more frequently in Korean recipes and is a key ingredient in making kimchi. Go-eun gochugaru is much finer and is the ingredient used to make gochujang (Korean red pepper sauce) and can be used in recipes like Korean Cheese Pork Ribs. While red pepper sauce can be very sticky and thick, the fine flakes give a similar flavor without adding the extra thickness and sweetness to the sauce. Surfing around some Korean blogs, several seem to use the standard gochugaru or mix half with fine and half with standard. Use what you have and adjust to taste!
Spicy Sauce Phase 1
- 1 kg ground pork
- 3 (plastic) cups water
- 3 (plastic) cups diced onion
- 500 g chopped green onion
- 3 (plastic) cups mirim
- 3 (plastic) cups light brown sugar
- 3 (plastic) cups mulyeot (Korean corn syrup)
- 6 (plastic) cups soy sauce
Spicy Sauce Phase 2
- 4 (plastic) cups Korean pear blended (half pear and half water)
- 1 (plastic) cup minced garlic
- 1 ½ Tbsp minced ginger
- 560 g go-eun gochugaru (fine Korean red pepper flakes)
Follow the same directions as written in the recipe for 4!
And here they are making 60 sauce servings!
holding the pot is a 2 person job!
cooling the warm sauce in a ice bath!
examining the chewy noodles!!
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Bibim Guksu (Korean Spicy Cold Noodles)
Spicy and sweet Korean cold noodles for an easy but additive meal, particularly suitable for a hot day!
Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time45 mins
Sauce Cooling Time30 mins
Servings: 4 servings
Jennifer | Chopsticks and Flour
Ingredients
Spicy Sauce Phase 1
- 2 ⅓ oz (67 g) ground pork
- 2 ½ Tbsp water
- 2 ⅓ Tbsp diced onion
- ⅗ cup (140 ml) chopped green onion
- 2 ½ Tbsp mirim
- 2 ½ Tbsp sugar
- 2 ½ Tbsp mulyeot or ssalyeot Korean corn syrup or rice syrup*
- 5 Tbsp soy sauce ¼ cup + 1 Tbsp
Spicy Sauce Phase 2
- 4 Tbsp Korean pear blended half pear and half water** see optional note below
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- ¼ tsp minced ginger
- 6 Tbsp (37 g) go-eun gochugaru (fine Korean chili powder 고은고추가루) approximate
- Sprinkle of ground black pepper
Assemble - per serving/bowl
- 4 oz (115 g) Somyeon (Korean thin wheat noodles) per bowl or 16 oz for 4 servings
- sliced danmuji (yellow pickled radish) to taste about 3 Tbsp per bowl
- Chopped kimchi to taste about 3 Tbsp per bowl
- Chopped green onion to taste about 2 Tbsp per bowl
- 1 Tbsp Roasted sesame seeds per bowl
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil to taste - some prefer about 2 Tbsp but I think 1 was enough per bowl
Instructions
Spicy Sauce Phase 1
Heat a saucepan on medium heat, add in the ground pork and water. As the mixture begins to cook, add in the diced onions and chopped green onions. Continue to mix around so the meat doesn’t clump. Let it simmer until the green onions have softened (1-2 minutes).
Continue to add in the mirim, sugar, mulyeot and soy sauce. Cook until the meat is fully cooked through (2-3 more minutes).
Cool the sauce. Once the sauce is cooled, there may be some oil on top (depending on your meat), spoon off the top if there is oil floating.
*You can make this part of the sauce a day ahead. Or, you can also pour the sauce into another clean bowl and place it in a bowl of ice water so that the sauce will cool quickly.
Spicy Sauce Phase 2
In the meantime, juice or blend 2 Tbsp of pear.
*If using a blender, mix the pear with about 2 Tbsp of water and omit the extra 2 Tbsp water in the sauce recipe. In a pinch, you can also use apple juice.
Once the 1st phase sauce is cooled, add in the 2nd phase ingredients. Add in the pear juice (and water), minced garlic, minced ginger, and gochugaru. Mix well. Sprinkle with ground black pepper.
Assemble
Make the noodles. If using Korean wheat noodles, bring a pot of water to boil. Add in the noodles. Once the pot begins to come to a rumbling boil (2-3 minutes), pour in about ½ cup of cold water. Then allow the pot to come to a boil again and pour in another ½ cup of cold water. Do this about 1-2 more times. Once the noodles are at your desired texture, drain and run around cold water.
(Or, cook the noodles according to the package)
Plate the noodles into bowls. Pour in ¼ of the sauce into each portion of noodles. Top with danmuji, kimchi and green onions. Pour in a Tbsp of sesame oil per bowl.
Notes
*If the sauce seems too thick, add in a bit of water.
**If you don't have Korean pear, you can use American pear or I've tried with apple juice as well and it was not noticeable.
1 Tbsp = 15 ml
1 cup = 240 ml
