My mom is the best Korean food cook I know. She’s completely self-taught and such a natural. I know “mom/dad cooking” is a very personal thing to a lot people and I love that! I mean I’m definitely someone who credits my excitement for food and cooking to my parents, who were (lovingly) shoving things like fish heads, tiny fermented shrimp and spicy hot pot down my throat from a very early age.

How is it that moms can whip the same dish together using different ingredients each time or swap this for that and so on; yet the dishes always seem to taste the exact same and always totally delicious?! I’m amazed sometimes at how my mom’s mind works in the kitchen. She’ll start making something like kimchi…realize halfway through she doesn’t have rice flour to thicken her kimchi paste/sauce and without even flinching she’ll grab a potato, boil it, grind it and stir it in as her starchy thickening agent. Pure brilliance, me thinks. No, it’s not rocket science, just wonderful mom hands at work, putting love and care into every single dish :)

This recipe is one of those dishes that my mom will tweak here and there depending what she has in the pantry and it’s one of my absolute favorites and great to eat year round. I do want to give a bit of warning because this dish is spicy. It’s the kind of spicy that doesn’t hit you right away, but then 5 minutes later you feel your face burning up and you’re wiping the sweat off the top of your nose. You can definitely lessen the “spicy” by adding a small amount of honey to the mixture. The cucumbers and egg also serve as a “mouth cooler”. Oh and guess what?? This recipe is GLUTEN-FREE (if you use tamari instead of soy sauce). Take away the egg and boom. It’s VEGAN too!:) Enjoy!
xx Jenny

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A close up of bibim nengmyun with a hard boiled egg wedge and cucumber garnish.

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A plate of bibim nengmyun with julienned cucumbers and a hard boiled egg wedge and fork.

Bibim Nengmyun (Buckwheat Noodles Tossed with a Hot Pepper Sauce)

RECIPE BY Teri & Jenny

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Servings: 3

INGREDIENTS

▢ 8 ounces Korean-style buckwheat noodles

yangnyum sauce

▢ ¼ cup gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste)
▢ 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
▢ 1 ½ tablespoons low sodium soy sauce or tamari (premium soy sauce)
▢ 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
▢ 2 teaspoons sesame oil
▢ 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

garnish

▢ 1 to 2 hard boiled eggs, halved
▢ ¼ small hothouse cucumber, julienned

INSTRUCTIONS

Place the ingredients for the sauce in a small mixing bowl and whisk together until fully combined.
Fill a pot with water and bring to a boil. Once the water has come to a boil, drop the noodles in and stir.
Boil the noodles until they soften, about 3 minutes.
Drain into a strainer rinse under cold water until the noodles become cold to the touch.
Place the noodles in a large mixing bowl and toss together with the hot pepper sauce (yangnyum) until all the noodles are well coated.
Divide the noodles into individual bowls and top each with a small pile of cucumber strips, ½ a hard boiled egg and a sprinkle of sesame seeds.