Naeng Myeon

I’m a fan of Naeng Myeon, Korean version of cold noodle. Basically it’s a buckwheat noodle with cold beef broth with lots of ice and hardboiled egg. Some may also serve it with thinly sliced cucumber and pear. This is my version of Naeng Myeon. Trust me, it tastes similar to those in the restaurant and this is based from one of my mom’s home recipe. It’s always served hot in my house plus it use fried shallots to make it more Indonesian, it only took my laziness to discover the alternative serving is the same thing as Naeng Myeon. Why is that? Because I’m just too lazy to heat the soup in the microwave hahahaa….

Ingredients
300 gr of beef (preferably thinly slice beef or any cut will do, but just remember that you’re gonna eat it COLD, so choose wisely)
2 small sized white radish (I was told that the big ones are OLD and tough, so must choose the small ones)
1 bunch Chinese celery, chopped ** optional
hard boiled eggs per your taste (usually 1 bowl use 1 egg)
1 packet of somen (Korean buckwheat noodle is not that easy to find here, so I substitute it with somen because somen has its chewy consistency)
** 1 packet of somen usually for 4 person estimated
Seasoning: Soya sauce, sugar, apple vinegar
Mustard ** optional

How to:
in the boiling water, put in beef and radish and let it simmer until both are tender
season it with the seasoning. I put lots of soya sauce because I want to have lots of broth. But remember Naeng Myeon is NOT salty, soya sauce is more to make it fragrance and coloring. Personally I like lots of vinegar because it makes the broth taste refreshing.
remember to serve it cold
If you don’t like Chinese celery, you should use pear or cucumber, but remember must use the hardboiled egg, it makes the broth creamier when eaten together J If you have mustard in your pantry, you can serve it on the side per the traditional version. Mustard will make the dish more refreshing in taste, but it’s not a must.
**
Chinese parsley is good for lowering your high blood pressure.
Beef is good for those who have low blood counts
Vinegar is good for your skin and diet (especially apple vinegar)
Radish is cooling
Buckwheat noodle has lots of fiber so if you could get a hand of those bunch, you should definitely use it instead of somen