Nengmyun means cold noodles. Literally chilled buckwheat noodles in a cold broth, and if you are lucky, you may get chunks of frozen broth floating in your bowl, or even shaved ice broth! Such a treat!

Originally North Korean cuisine, Nengmyun is like ice cream. You enjoy it all season, but crave it even more in the winter. But just to give you a 101 on nengmyun, there are two distinct types of this dish, Pyongyang-style, and Hamheung-style.

Pyongyang-style nengmyun is from the Northwest region of the Korean Peninsula, and is made with the kind of buckwheat noodles that are al dente but you can still cut with your teeth. While they will give you white rice vinegar and yellow Korean mustard called gyeoja on the side, it is frowned upon to douse your noodles with such harsh condiments and to contaminate the delicate broth.

Hamheung-style nengmyun on the other hand, is from the Northeast region of the Korean Peninsula, and is served with scissors! The chewy noodles are so elastic, you're not expected to be able to cut them with your teeth. The scissors are used to cut the noodles before digging in, just once across the middle for experienced folk, or twice, to divide into four quadrants, for less experienced or younger folk. You can feel free to add a generous amount of white rice vinegar and gyeja and enjoy the sweetness of the amalgamation.

Pyongyang-style nengmyun is typically the crown jewel of the restaurant, even the most prestigious Korean beef, Hanwoo, playing second fiddle to the bowl of noodles. But Hamheung-style nengmyun is much more common and ubiquitous at any Korean barbecue restaurant.

So here you go. You now know everything you need to know about these beloved noodles of Korea.

LEAD-IN IMAGE

Stock Photo -- by rawkkim on Unsplash