Bowls and Noodles
Korean Cookery
Chapter 7 · Bowls and Noodles
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The basics
Bibimbap
The article's lead describes warm white rice topped with namul (here "sautéed or blanched seasoned vegetables"), usually egg and sliced meat, usually beef, plus gochujang. It lists common vegetables as julienned cucumber, courgette (aehobak), radish, mushrooms, bellflower root (doraji), seaweed (gim), spinach, soybean sprouts and bracken (gosari). South Korean versions add sesame oil, gochujang and sesame seeds, and the vegetables are often arranged "so adjacent colors complement each other". Everything is "stirred together thoroughly just before eating."
Variations: dolsot, where a raw egg "is cooked against the sides of the bowl" in a very hot stone pot whose base is coated in sesame oil so the rice forms nurungji (Chapter 2); Jeonju, rice cooked in beef shank broth with soybean sprouts and seasoned raw beef; Jinju, with beef yukhoe (beef tartare) and a special paste. The article says "The origin of bibimbap is unknown", that one theory ties it to mixing offering food from jesa rites ("Some scholars assert"), and that the dolsot version is "commonly attributed to" a restaurant in Jeonju.
Japchae
The article calls it "a savory and slightly sweet dish of stir-fried glass noodles and vegetables", a celebration dish and a common banchan, also a main course. The noodles are usually dangmyeon, from sweet potato starch: "pale grey, semi-transparent, chewy and elastic". It says each ingredient is cooked separately, then combined with the boiled and drained noodles, "seasoned with soy sauce, sugar, chopped garlic, green onions and sesame oil", and served hot or cold. Typical additions are mushrooms, carrots, spinach, onion, egg and scallions, with beef or pork. The origin it gives (a vegetable and mushroom dish for a palace banquet in the early 17th century) rests on a 2010 newspaper piece, and the noodle timeline on news and tourism sources, so I treat the dates as uncertain.
Cold and warm noodles
Bibim-guksu: "a cold Korean noodle dish made with very thin wheat flour noodles" (somyeon), especially in summer. The heat comes from chilli powder, gochujang and garlic, with vinegar and sugar for sweet-and-sour balance and a little sesame oil. Typical toppings: stir-fried diced beef, pickled cucumber strips and mushrooms cooked in sesame oil, with hard-boiled egg, pickled radish, gim and cucumber; Korean pear or tomato "sometimes".
Janchi-guksu (janchi means feast): somyeon noodles in a light anchovy broth, sometimes with kelp (beef broth may be substituted), with a sauce of sesame oil, soy sauce and a little chilli and spring onion, and toppings of fried egg strips, gim and courgette. The article says it is served at weddings and 60th birthdays and the noodles symbolise longevity. I do not give a recipe: its only method detail is broth, noodles and toppings, which Chapter 5 and this chapter already show.
Rice: do not leave cooked rice sitting out; cool and refrigerate leftovers (Chapter 2).
Hot stone pot: a dolsot is extremely hot and can crack; I do not give a recipe for it.
Allergens: soy, sesame, wheat (somyeon), egg, gochujang, and fish if you add anchovy or fish sauce.
Chilli: bibim-guksu sauce can be very hot; start with half the gochujang and gochugaru.
Try it
Bibimbap from the banchan you already made
This uses the seasoned spinach and bean sprouts from Chapter 3. Add or swap any vegetable on the article's list.
Ingredients (2 portions)
- 2 cups hot cooked short-grain rice (Chapter 2)
- 1 portion sigeumchi-namul (Chapter 3)
- 1 portion kongnamul-muchim (Chapter 3)
- 1/2 cucumber, cut in matchsticks
- 1 small carrot, cut in matchsticks
- 100 g bulgogi (Chapter 6), cooked and chopped (optional)
- 2 eggs, fried
- 2 tbsp gochujang
- 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
- Stir-fry the carrot in a splash of oil for 2 minutes (mine). Keep the cucumber raw.
- Divide the hot rice between two bowls. Arrange the toppings in separate piles around the rice, putting contrasting colours next to each other.
- Fry the eggs until the white is set. Put one on each bowl.
- Add a spoon of gochujang and a teaspoon of sesame oil to each, sprinkle with seeds.
- Stir everything together thoroughly just before eating, as the article says.
Japchae
The article says each ingredient is cooked separately, mixed with the boiled noodles and seasoned with soy sauce, sugar, garlic, spring onion and sesame oil. Amounts and the order are mine.
Ingredients (2 portions)
- 100 g dangmyeon (sweet potato noodles), dried
- 100 g spinach
- 1 carrot, in matchsticks
- 1/2 onion, sliced
- 100 g mushrooms, sliced
- 100 g beef or pork, thin strips (optional)
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 2 spring onions, sliced
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
- Cook the noodles in boiling water following the packet, then drain and rinse. Cut them a few times with scissors so they are not too long.
- In a wide pan with a little oil, stir-fry each vegetable separately for 1 to 3 minutes (spinach just until wilted), moving each to a large bowl. If using meat, cook it through.
- Mix the soy sauce, sugar, garlic and half the sesame oil. Add the noodles to the pan with this seasoning and stir over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Return everything to the pan or bowl, toss, add the spring onions and the rest of the sesame oil. Taste and adjust.
- Top with sesame seeds. Serve hot or cold.
Bibim-guksu: cold spicy noodles
The sauce uses the article's list: chilli powder, gochujang, garlic, vinegar, sugar and sesame oil. The proportions are mine, so taste the sauce before it meets the noodles.
Ingredients (2 portions)
- 150 g dried somyeon (thin wheat noodles)
- 2 tbsp gochujang
- 1 tsp gochugaru
- 1 clove garlic, grated
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1/2 cucumber, in matchsticks
- 2 hard-boiled eggs, halved
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
- Mix all the sauce ingredients (gochujang to sesame oil) in a bowl. Taste a tiny dab; adjust sweetness, sour and heat.
- Cook the noodles in boiling water for the time on the packet (usually only a few minutes), then drain and rinse under cold water, rubbing gently, until cold. Drain well.
- Toss the noodles with the sauce. Top with cucumber, egg and sesame seeds, and serve right away.
Experiments
Challenges
Describe bibimbap, japchae and bibim-guksu in a sentence each from the articles, and name one variation of bibimbap with where it comes from.
Cook the japchae and explain why each ingredient is cooked separately (the article states the method; give the article's reason if it has one, and your own guess if not).
Plan a leftovers day: use rice, namul, bulgogi and kimchi from earlier chapters for a bibimbap lunch and say what you would add to make it a balanced bowl.
Quick Reference
- Bibimbap: rice, namul, egg, meat, gochujang, sesame oil; arrange by colour; stir before eating
- Japchae: sweet potato noodles, vegetables cooked separately, soy sauce, sugar, garlic, sesame oil
- Bibim-guksu: cold thin wheat noodles, chilli, gochujang, garlic, vinegar, sugar, sesame oil
- Janchi-guksu: somyeon in anchovy broth, fried egg, gim, courgette; served at weddings
- Mine, untested: all amounts, times and sauce proportions
Next chapter: Pancakes, Fried Food and Street Snacks.