Hamhung Naengmyeon

Ingredients

Noodles

• 600 gfresh potato-starch or sweet-potato-starch naengmyeon noodles (hoe naengmyeon myeon)
• ice water, for shocking

Skate topping (hoe)

• 300 gskate wing, skinned, or fresh flatfish fillet
• 3 tbspcoarse gochugaru
• 2 tbspgochujang
• 2 tbsprice vinegar
• 1 tbspsugar
• 1 tbspminced garlic
• 1 tspminced ginger
• 1 tbsptoasted sesame seeds
• 1 tspsalt

Sauce (yangnyeomjang)

• 4 tbspgochujang
• 3 tbspgochugaru
• 3 tbspKorean pear, grated
• 2 tbspsoy sauce
• 2 tbsprice vinegar
• 1 tbspsugar or maesil syrup
• 1 tbspminced garlic
• 1 tbsptoasted sesame oil

To assemble

• 1Korean pear, julienned
• 1cucumber, julienned and lightly salted
• 2eggs, boiled 9 minutes and halved
• 400 mlcold beef broth, skimmed clear, served alongside
• rice vinegar and hot mustard (gyeoja), at the table

Directions

1. Cut the skate into 4 cm strips and toss with 1 tsp salt; drain 20 minutes, then squeeze gently dry – this firms the flesh and removes the faint ammonia that skate carries.
2. Mix the skate with the gochugaru, gochujang, vinegar, sugar, garlic, ginger and sesame seeds and refrigerate 2–3 hours. It should turn glossy scarlet and taste sharp, sweet and fiery.
3. Whisk all the sauce ingredients together and chill; it should be thick enough to coat a spoon and aggressively balanced between hot, sweet and sour.
4. Salt the cucumber for 10 minutes, rinse and squeeze. Julienne the pear at the last moment so it stays white.
5. Boil a large pot of water hard. Shake the noodles apart and cook them 30–90 seconds only – potato-starch noodles go from raw to rubbery fast. Taste one: it should be springy and translucent with no chalky core.
6. Drain and rinse under cold running water, rubbing the strands between your hands to strip the surface starch, then plunge into ice water for 30 seconds and drain hard in coils.
7. Nest the noodles in chilled steel bowls, spoon a heap of the sauce into the centre and lay the marinated skate, pear, cucumber and half an egg around it.
8. Serve with a small bowl of ice-cold beef broth on the side, and a jug of vinegar and mustard – diners mix the sauce through the noodles vigorously with chopsticks, then sip the broth or pour a little in to loosen it.

Technique

• Hamhung noodles are made from potato or sweet potato starch, not buckwheat, which is what makes them so chewy they are traditionally cut with scissors at the table.
• Rinsing off the surface starch under cold water is not optional. Skip it and the noodles glue into a single block within a minute.
• The raw skate is the defining northern touch, but is only safe with very fresh, sashimi-grade fish that has been frozen at -20°C (-4°F) for at least 24 hours first. Many restaurants in the South now use skate that has been lightly aged.

Substitutions

• No skate? Marinate very fresh sole or flounder the same way, or use blanched squid for a cooked topping.
• Dried naengmyeon noodles from a Korean grocer work; cook to the packet time, which is usually 2–3 minutes, and shock them just as hard.

Variations

• Bibim naengmyeon, the same dish without the raw fish, dressed only with the chilli sauce.
• Hoe naengmyeon with pollack, the version usual in Sokcho where refugees from Hamhung settled.

History

Hamhung’s potato-starch noodles came south with refugees during the Korean War, who opened the first Seoul shops in the 1950s.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hamhung Naengmyeon?

Hamhung Naengmyeon is a main from North Korea: extra-chewy potato-starch noodles in fiery sauce, often topped with raw skate. Hamhung’s potato-starch noodles came south with refugees during the Korean War, who opened the first Seoul shops in the 1950s.

How long does Hamhung Naengmyeon take to make?

Hamhung Naengmyeon takes 40 min of preparation and 20 min, plus 3 hr chilling of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Hamhung Naengmyeon?

Yes, within limits. No skate? Marinate very fresh sole or flounder the same way, or use blanched squid for a cooked topping. Dried naengmyeon noodles from a Korean grocer work; cook to the packet time, which is usually 2–3 minutes, and shock them just as hard.

What is the most important thing to get right in Hamhung Naengmyeon?

Salt the cucumber for 10 minutes, rinse and squeeze. Julienne the pear at the last moment so it stays white.