In South Korea, noodles are a staple of the cuisine. There are so many varieties of noodles that one would be spoilt for choice. Whether cold or hot, spicy or mild, chewy or sweet, the Koreans have a noodle dish that caters to every fancy. Whenever you plan to visit South Korea, here are the top five noodle dishes you must try.
This dish is made by stir-frying glass noodles and veggies and eaten cold. The dish, invented by King Gwangaegun's servant, who prepared the meal for a royal celebration, is slightly sweet and seasoned with soy sauce. It is usually served with beef, but you also find vegetarian options in India. Japchae literally translates to 'a mixture of vegetables' and includes many colourful, thinly sliced veggies, including carrots, spinach, mushrooms and peppers, often garnished with a fried egg on top.
If you are a fan of broth-based noodles, a warm bowl of budae jjigae should be on your list of must-have dishes in South Korea. This stew is made with ramen noodles in an anchovy stock and combined with kimchi, baked beans and sausages. There is also pork, rice cakes, and sometimes tofu. The origins of this dish trace back to the 1950s, in the aftermath of the Korean War, when resources were scarce, which led the people to create this fusion dish with whatever ingredients they could procure. Hence, it is also known as army stew.
For South Koreans, kalguksu or knife noodles, is the go-to summer staple. A popular meal during rainy and windy summer days, the dish features knife-cut noodles (hence the name) made of wheat and egg in a seafood broth of dried anchovies, shellfish and kelp. The seafood version is the most popular, but the dish has other varieties as well, including spicy (jjanppong kalguksu), chicken (dak kalguksu), and mushroom kalguksu (beodeot kalguksu).
Another warm and hearty dish, sujebi is a typical meal cooked in most households in South Korea. These hand-pulled wheat noodles, initially only made for special occasions, are served in a soup, with the noodles being the main ingredient of the dish. It is flavoured with varieties of seafish and seaweed and also includes vegetables such as potatoes, scallions, and sometimes, kimchi. The noodles are made by pulling small portions of dough by hand, lending it the name sujebi, meaning 'hand folded'.
One of the most widely-known Korean noodle dishes, jjajangmyeon is a medley of unique flavours combined to make a harmonious meal. You can instantly recognise this dish through its dark, almost black sauce poured over thick wheat noodles. The dark sauce is a sweet and slightly salty soybean paste which lends the dish its dominant flavour. Originally part of Chinese cuisine, the jjajangmyeon you now find in South Korea has been tweaked to better fit local taste sensitivities. The Korean dish is non-spicy and very different from your usual bowl of ramen. You can sample it in a lot of Chinese restaurants in South Korea.