Bibim Guksu (Korean Chilly Blended Noodles) Recipe

The canon of slurpable Korean chilly noodle dishes is huge and different, with every dish providing a uniquely scrumptious method to calm down on a blazing summer time day. Some, such because the beloved Korean chilly noodle soup mul naengmyun, are labor-intensive, multi-step dishes you’d usually order at a restaurant or assemble from a equipment bought on the Korean grocery store. However many, together with this spicy, candy, and tart bibim guksu, are supposed to be fast, one-bowl affairs you’ll be able to combine up with components you may have already got, making them an amazing possibility for no-fuss meals which might be hearty and satisfying however nonetheless depart you feeling gentle.

Bibim guksu is a spicy chilly noodle dish that actually interprets to “combined noodles” in Korean. Whereas plenty of Korean noodle dishes are combined, “bibim guksu” usually refers to this particular dish of skinny, chewy noodles (usually somyeon) tossed with a gochujang-based sauce. The noodles will be garnished with numerous toppings corresponding to hard-boiled eggs, roasted sesame seeds, and cooling, crunchy greens. Chances are you’ll even see fruit, corresponding to julienned Asian pears or apples.

The perfect bibim guksu transcends the sum of its elements: The chilled noodles mingle with the crunchy, juicy greens; the boiled egg is substantial and a little bit wealthy; and every part is coated in a spicy, barely candy gochujang-based sauce that will get an acidic kick from rice vinegar. A bathe of aromatic floor sesame seeds and a drizzle of toasted sesame oil add an intensely nutty aroma that attracts you to the bowl earlier than you even take a chew. Every crunchy-meets-chewy chew is refreshing and tart from the vinegar, simply candy sufficient from the honey, and finishes with the sluggish, lingering burn of the gochujang, which calls for to be chased with one other cooling chew.

In my analysis throughout a number of Korean cookbooks and on-line sources, no two bibim guksu recipes have been precisely alike, which solely speaks to the dish’s wildly adaptable nature. Some incorporate chopped kimchi and kimchi juice within the base of the bibim sauce. Some sweeten the sauce with plain white sugar, whereas others use fruit preserves and even lemon-lime soda. The toppings are infinitely variable. The one constants are bouncy noodles and a balanced sweet-spicy-savory sauce that jolts the palate. My recipe teaches you learn how to nail each of these constants, whereas leaving room to your personal spins.

The Noodles: All About That Bounce

A correct bibim guksu options agency, silky noodles coated in a slick, shiny sauce that makes it delightfully simple to slurp them down. Bibim guksu is broadly ready with Korean somyeon noodles (also called somen, somyeon is a skinny, spherical wheat noodle that’s a well-liked alternative for Korean chilly noodle dishes.) Somyeon takes just some minutes to prepare dinner, making it a handy possibility for these seeking to get dinner on the desk quick.

There are a couple of key steps to getting ready completely cooked somyeon: Continually agitating the noodles with tongs or chopsticks as they boil prevents them from sticking and getting clumpy. Instantly surprising the noodles in ice water halts the cooking course of and companies up the noodles, enhancing their chewy high quality. Lastly, vigorously scrubbing the noodles along with your fingers beneath chilly operating water washes away each final little bit of extra starch, which additional ensures they gained’t stick to one another and makes it simpler to combine them evenly with the sauce. 

A observe on the ice bathtub: I don’t have an ice machine, which makes me very selective about when and the place I exploit my treasured human-made ice cubes. Throughout testing, nonetheless, I discovered that surprising the noodles in an ice bathtub produced noticeably chewier and fewer sticky noodles than after I shocked them within the coldest faucet water I might get. Which is to say: That is the time to bust out the ice—you gained’t remorse it.

Should you can’t discover somyeon, strive substituting buckwheat noodles, which is able to add an earthy observe to the dish. Any skinny, light-weight wheat noodle that adheres to sauce properly can even work—even angel hair pasta or capellini could be an excellent substitute. For a gluten-free possibility, Korean markets promote rice-based somyeon; you possibly can additionally use rice vermicelli. (Buckwheat can be gluten-free, however many buckwheat noodles additionally embrace wheat so you’ll want to verify the label if that is a priority.)

The Sauce: A Concord of Flavors

A well-balanced bibim guksu sauce is a harmonious mix of spicy, candy, bitter, and savory flavors, with none dominating one other. It could possibly be described in Korean as having the standard of “gamchilmat,” says Irene Yoo, a Korean-American recipe developer and chef of the forthcoming Orion Bar in Brooklyn. Gamchilmat doesn’t have an equal phrase in English and might be most much like the Japanese “umami,” however Yoo says it could possibly be described as a “charming” or “engaging” style that floods your tastebuds and pulls you in.

The spicy aspect of bibim guksu sauce is often anchored by gochujang and gochugaru. Gochujang, one of many three “mom jangs” of Korean cuisine (together with doenjang and ganjang) is a thick, fermented crimson pepper paste that packs a candy, deep warmth. Gochugaru, or Korean chile powder, brings a brilliant, fruity spice that provides one other dimension of warmth to the sauce. Search for gochujang that has rice syrup as a substitute of corn syrup within the components checklist, because the latter can add an overwhelming, cloyingly candy taste. As for gochugaru, you need coarse flakes (akin to wheat bran), versus the very finely floor flakes, that are extra usually used for making gochujang and for flavoring and coloring soup bases the place you do not wish to see the flakes. Whilst you technically might use the finely floor flakes right here, the coarse gochugaru is available and extra conventional on this dish.

Unseasoned rice vinegar brings brilliant tartness that is important to this dish’s gotta-have-another-bite enchantment, whereas soy sauce and sesame oil add savoriness. However the sweetening agent is the place you’ll be able to actually let free and experiment, and that is the place you’ll discover plenty of artistic license amongst bibim guksu recipes. In Koreaworld: A Cookbook by chef Deuki Hong and author Matt Rodbard, for instance, bibim guksu sauce is sweetened with a mix of Asian pear, 7-Up, and selfmade fruit preserves. After testing many alternative sweeteners, together with common granulated sugar, brown sugar, maesil cheong (Korean inexperienced plum syrup), and corn syrup, I settled on a mixture of grated Asian pear and a little bit honey to offer a well-rounded, advanced sweetness that provides to the sauce’s “gamchilmat” high quality.

As soon as combined, bibim guksu sauce will hold within the fridge for as much as two weeks and might simply be doubled or tripled so you’ll be able to combine up a bowl of noodles at a second’s discover. You may also use the sauce as a dip for uncooked greens or grilled meats, or combine it into bibimbap.

The Combine-Ins

Recent greens, and even fruits, are a typical addition to bibim guksu and supply welcome crunch and juiciness that complement the spicy, saucy noodles. I opted for julienned cucumber, which is a basic, however you possibly can add something watery or crunchy, corresponding to skinny strips of uncooked bell pepper, blanched bean sprouts, tender lettuces, julienned radish, or matchsticks of Asian pear. It’s arduous to go incorrect, and you may combine and match so as to add numerous colours, flavors, and textures to your bowl. Chopped kimchi can be a good way so as to add crunch, fermented funk, and additional spice and acidity to your bowl, and is a extremely popular bibim guksu addition.

My non-negotiable mix-in is a chiffonade of perilla, a young leaf that’s a part of the mint household and has a vegetal, bitter, and vaguely anise-y taste that’s unmistakably Korean. While you get a chew of bibim guksu with the perilla folded in, it cleanses the palate and prepares you for an additional spicy, candy chew. Although you’ll be able to substitute with different herbs which might be part of the mint household, like shiso, the impact won’t be fairly the identical.

Placing It All Collectively

If there’s one codified rule of constructing bibim guksu, it will be that it should be combined by hand. This imparts the all-important sohn-mat, Korean for “style of the hand,” which refers back to the distinctive taste that solely comes from the love and labor of the prepare dinner. It’s why, for a lot of Koreans, mother’s actually is all the time finest. To maintain the sauce from staining your fingers, you’ll be able to put on a disposable food-safe glove—my dad and mom purchase these thin, oversize vinyl gloves by the a whole lot for this actual goal—or simply wash your fingers properly earlier than and after mixing.

I prefer to serve my bibim guksu with the julienned cucumbers and chiffonade of perilla properly organized on high of the saucy noodles, largely as a result of I like the way it appears. However you’ll be able to toss the greens with the noodles while you mix them with the sauce in case you want. I prefer to bathe my bowl with a beneficiant serving to of toasted sesame seeds that I crush in a mortar and pestle to unlock their full taste potential. (Should you’ve solely ever topped your dishes with complete toasted sesame seeds, I urge you to do this!) I end off my bowl with a couple of drops of good-quality toasted sesame oil (I just like the White Sesame Oil from Yun Hai Pantry) as a result of it has a extra intense aroma and taste than mass-produced sesame oil—type of like ending off a pasta with a pleasant extra-virgin olive oil. The whole lot will get combined collectively earlier than consuming, however the mixed impact of the beautiful greens and egg on high plus the intoxicating sesame scent makes for a really attractive remaining presentation.

Lastly, cartoon-ish slurping is a should when consuming bibim guksu, so perhaps save your good white T-shirt for an additional day—or not less than have a Tide pen helpful.