Koreans Are Dead Serious About Their Noodles.
Top 5 Soul-Food Noodles That Run Through Korean Veins
A sip of piping-hot broth that warms you all the way down.
Spicy sauce that makes me sweat and somehow takes the stress away.
That chewy texture of wheat noodles, the smell, the broth...
Koreans love noodles.
Actually, we may love them a little too much.
For us, noodles aren't simply something to eat when we're hungry. We have different noodles for different weather, different moods, different places, even different occasions.
This is my personal Top 5, so yes, my taste is definitely involved.
But honestly, I don't think many Koreans would say no to any of these.
And if you're traveling in Korea and don't know what to order, remember these five. You can find them almost anywhere in the country, from tiny neighborhood restaurants to highway rest stops.
5th. Bibim-guksu (비빔국수)
Cold noodles mixed with a bright red, spicy-sweet sauce made with gochujang and Korean chili flakes.
It's a very simple dish.
So simple, in fact, that many Korean families have their own recipe.
That's probably why bibim-guksu feels like home cooking to me.
Kimchi often goes into the noodles, with whatever cold vegetables happen to be around added on top. The colder it is, the better. That coldness makes the sweet, sour and spicy flavors even sharper.
One of my favorite places is Sigaol (시가올).
Their portions are huge, I still finish the bowl.
4. Kalguksu (칼국수)
Kalguksu literally means "noodles cut with a knife."
The flour dough is kneaded, rolled out and then sliced by hand. The noodles aren't perfectly even, and that's exactly what I like about them. Some are a little thicker, some thinner, and they have this wonderfully chewy texture.
And kalguksu should arrive really hot.
Not warm.
Hot.
You eat the noodles and drink the broth, and the heat seems to work its way through your whole body.
Especially on a rainy day.
A small neighborhood restaurant, rain outside, a steaming bowl of kalguksu, and one plate of bright red kimchi.
That's all you need.
To me, that's a very Korean kind of comfort.
My favorites are Changmoru (창모루) and Inggo Kalguksu (잉꼬칼국수).
3. Naengmyeon (냉면)
There are two main kinds of naengmyeon.
Bibim-naengmyeon, mixed with spicy red sauce, and mul-naengmyeon, served in icy broth.
I like both.
And both should be cold. Very cold.
The one in my photo is bibim-naengmyeon.
Of course Koreans eat a lot of naengmyeon in summer. But we also eat it after Korean BBQ.
Yes. After all that meat.
Many BBQ restaurants even have a smaller portion of naengmyeon on the menu just for the end of the meal.
For me, it's almost like a mouthwash after Korean BBQ.
The cold, sharp flavor cuts through all the fatty richness from the meat and leaves my mouth feeling fresh again.
Then the meal is officially over.
I like most naengmyeon places, but I often go to Bangtae Makguksu (방태막국수).
2. Jajangmyeon (짜장면)
Jajangmyeon developed into the Korean dish we know today around Chinatown in Incheon.
Thick noodles, glossy black-bean sauce, pork, lots of onions, and that salty-sweet flavor.
Almost every Korean has some kind of memory attached to jajangmyeon.
When I was a kid, if somebody asked me,
"What do you want to eat?"
My answer was usually jajangmyeon.
And there's another very Korean thing about it.
We eat jajangmyeon when we move house.
After spending the whole day surrounded by boxes, furniture and moving trucks, nobody wants to cook. So you order jajangmyeon.
Sit on the floor among the boxes.
Open the delivery containers.
And eat.
When I was growing up, this was almost part of the moving-day event itself.
New house = jajangmyeon.
It was also the king of delivery food when I was young.
Even now, my work takes me to different parts of Korea, and whenever I'm somewhere unfamiliar and don't know what to eat, jajangmyeon is one of my safest choices.
It rarely disappoints me.
One important thing: when it arrives, don't sit around taking photos forever.
Mix it.
The noodles get soft quickly.
You want every strand covered in that shiny black sauce, and you absolutely need yellow danmuji, Korean pickled radish, on the side.
Black and yellow.
Even that color combination makes me hungry.
And one more thing.
Don't wear white.
Unless you're much better than I am at mixing black sauce and noodles without splashing yourself.
I love jajangmyeon pretty much everywhere, but one of my favorites is Ohyeongje Sonjjajang (오형제손짜장).
📍 Ohyeongje Sonjjajang (오형제손짜장)
1. Ramyeon (라면)
You knew this was coming. Of course, ramyeon is number one.
At home, at a convenience store, at a highway rest stop, after drinking, late at night, camping or by the Han River — ramyeon works anywhere. It's cheap, easy and ridiculously good.
Everyone has their own way of making it. More water or less? Egg? Green onion? Cheese? Dumplings? Rice cakes?
Me? I like mine simple. Nothing added. One packet of ramyeon, 500 ml of water, high heat, and 3 minutes 30 seconds to 4 minutes.
And, of course, kimchi. Ramyeon and kimchi are soulmates.
My ramyeon essentials: one packet of ramyeon, kimchi, and a Korean aluminum pot.
Where? Anywhere.
📍Yeouido Hangang Park(여의도한강공원)
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