Here's a recipe for a delicious Korean cold noodle soup. You are probably thinking that this post has something to do with snow crab but it doesn't. I haven't bought a camera yet so I'm using old pictures and this is as close as I could get to cold noodle soup. Which isn't close at all. I think the onions with cilantro in this soup are more Central Asian than Korean, but I'm not sure. We love to eat this dish on sweltering summer days.
I recommend making the stock ahead of time, at least the day before. That way you won't have to cram it into the
freezer or put ice cubes in it to chill it enough to serve.
This is a cold noodle soup after all; warm doesn't get it.
Stock-
beef shank
several ox tails
several bunches of green onions
several heads of garlic- so lots and lots of cloves
a lot of whole dried red chili peppers
Combine everything together in a big stock pot, cover with water and cook for a few hours. Strain the stock and skim off the fat.
Cook Korean style wheat noodles according to the package directions. Rinse the noodles in cold water and set aside. The noodles that I just used are labeled mak gooksoo. I don't know what mak gooksoo means. I picked them because they are Korean and there is a picture on the package that resembles this dish. I try not to ask too many questions when I'm at the Korean grocery. I'm not sure why, but I pretend that I know what I'm doing. Having already received unsolicited "explainers" on kimchi and yellow croaker, I normally am a bit defensive by the time I get to the noodle isle. I don't want to admit I have no idea what type of noodle to buy. So, I rely on pictures.
Peel cucumbers and cut into cute little strips. It's very important that the strips are cute otherwise the entire dish will surely be ruined:) Season with salt and a little rice wine vinegar and set aside.
Cut white onions in half and then cut them as thin as you can. Season with salt, fresh cilantro, and a little rice wine vinegar. Scrunch it together with your hands. Set it aside.
This soup is great with left over bulgogi or kalbi in it. Although we never have any bulgogi or kalbe left over; it's too darn tasty! So you can make some ahead of time or you can just cook up some beef in the skillet or on the grill. I've even used bias cuts of flank steak cut into thin strips and cooked fast in a skillet. Whatever you use make sure you cut it into small bite sized strips.
Prepare the broth by mixing the cold stock with cold water and soy sauce to taste. You can add red pepper powder if it's not spicy enough. I put a lot of red peppers in my stock so I normally don't add any more. You can also add a tiny amount of good sesame oil but I didn't think it needed it this last time I made it.
Now that everything is ready you can assemble the soup. Put a serving of noodles in a bowl. Pour the cold broth over them. Top with the cucumbers, onions and beef. Sprinkle with fresh dill and serve.
It's good with strips of egg on top too. Beat eggs and cook them in a skillet like your making an omelet. Then cut them up in strips. I don't use the egg b/c of Little E's egg allergy. Speaking of allergies, little E eats this soup with gluten free rice noodles instead of the wheat noodles. If your making this gluten free don't forget to use a gluten free soy sauce.
