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Friday, September 02, 2011

Jaengban Gooksu (Korean Cold Buckwheat Noodle Salad)

Jaengban Gooksu (Korean Cold Buckwheat Noodle Salad) 1

I liked the Korean cold noodle salad at Young Dong Tofu - San Gabriel so much that I recreated it later at home. After recently coming across the photos of Ding's Garden - Alhambra and the noodle dishes there, I decided to add shredded roast chicken to my version. Not that you need to add meat, this cold noodle salad works well if you keep it all vegetarian too.

A perfect light dinner for those long hot summer days.

I used green tea buckwheat noodles because that's what I had in the pantry, but regular soba noodles or Korean arrowroot noodles will work too.

Jaengban Gooksu (Korean Cold Buckwheat Noodle Salad) 2

Other than that, it was a simple matter of julienning the vegetables. The dressing was a simple mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, and sugar.

Jaengban Gooksu (Korean Cold Buckwheat Noodle Salad) 3

Jaengban Gooksu (Korean Cold Buckwheat Noodle Salad)

For 2 servings as a meal, or 4 servings as an appetizer, you'll need:
8 ounces buckwheat noodles, boiled and drained
6 leaves red or green leaf lettuce, thinly sliced
1 small carrot, julienned
1 small cucumber, julienned
1 egg, made into a thin omelet and finely sliced
1 cup chicken, shredded

For the dressing, you'll need:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tblsp sugar
2 tsp sesame oil

Optional: Add 1 tsp gochujang (Korean chili paste) to the dressing. Add some finely sliced Korean sesame leaves to the salad.

Soba noodles boiled and drained in the back. I like red or green leaf lettuce because the leaves are a little more tender than Romaine or iceberg lettuce. Butter lettuce would work as well, but it's more expensive.

Then it's a simple matter of julienning the carrots and cucumbers, and shredding the chicken. Make a thin omelet with only 1 egg. Then thinly slice it.

Jaengban Gooksu (Korean Cold Buckwheat Noodle Salad) 4

For the dressing, mix together 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup vinegar, 1 tblsp sugar, and 2 tsp sesame oil. You can heat the dressing on the stove top on medium-low to help the flavors blend together better, but it's not necessary. Taste and adjust if necessary.

Then to assemble, get a plate that has raised sides to absorb the dressing. Start by adding the soba noodles on the bottom, then the lettuce on top.

Jaengban Gooksu (Korean Cold Buckwheat Noodle Salad) 5

Layer the carrots, cucumbers, chicken, and eggs.

Jaengban Gooksu (Korean Cold Buckwheat Noodle Salad) 6

Then pour the dressing over the salad and dig in.

Jaengban Gooksu (Korean Cold Buckwheat Noodle Salad) 7

Enjoy!

I didn't want to just call this a Korean cold noodle salad, so in Googling for the proper Korean name, I came across the dish on Misty Yoon's blog with her much more artful presentation. Next time, I'll have to try putting the vegetables in a circle with the noodles in small bundles in the middle.

Other cold noodle dishes:
Bun Cha Hanoi Nem Ran (Vietnamese Hanoi-Style Rice Vermicelli Noodles with Grilled Pork Patties and Egg Rolls)
Bun Thit Heo Nuong, Tom, Cha Gio (Vietnamese Rice Vermicelli with Grilled Pork, Shrimp, and Egg Rolls)
Green Tea Soba (Japanese Buckwheat Noodles) with Almond Butter

*****
1 year ago today, Mabo Tofu Ramen.
2 years ago today, Chichen Itza Restaurant - Los Angeles.
3 years ago today, How to Eat a Jackfruit.
4 years ago today, on Sundays...

8 comments:

  1. I'm definitely going to make this, vegetarian style. You don't have a print function?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Also, do you mean rice wine vinegar?

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a fun dish! It looks like something I'd want to toss in a large bowl and then serve individual plates -- the way you've got it in the last photo.

    ReplyDelete
  4. hi wc - yay! i'm so glad you posted this! i plan to make it this week!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sarah,
    If you mouse over the "share" button, it drops down into a menu of options, including a print option. Any vinegar you'd like. I normally do rice wine, but white wine vinegar works too.

    Nikki,
    I big pasta bowl would work too instead of the shallow plate.

    CC,
    I thought you would have figured out how to do it already.

    ReplyDelete
  6. hi wc - i was waiting for the dressing recipe. the rest i knew (the veg/noodles) but i wasn't sure about the proportions of vinegar, sesame oil, etc...

    ReplyDelete
  7. nom nom nom next time you come to PDX can you come over and make this? Looks amazing. I'd even eat it in the rain ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. CC,
    But you knew the ingredients, or could probably figure them out. Dressing is easy enough to tailor to your taste.

    Anna,
    Eat it in the rain? You'd have to since it rains almost every day at home! :)

    ReplyDelete

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