Since my young radish kimchi neng myun (refer to 2 August blog) was such a success, I was determined to try other dishes that Koreans enjoy eating in summer to cool down. I spoke to my best friend in Seoul today and she told me it’s over 30’c, sounds not that much different to Singapore (other than the humidity, of course). If you have experienced a Korean summer, you know what I mean. It’s suffocating!
I tried out a noodle dish called kong guk su (cold soybeen noodle soup) today. I cheated a bit by using soybean powder instead of soaking some beans overnight and boiling them. Blame my stomach for the short cut!! I promise I will do the whole nine yards next time. I came across the powder in the Korean grocery store when I was in Sydney. There was no instruction on the package on how to use this powder so I had figure it out on my own.
I thought “how hard can this be?” so I just added the soybean powder to some cold water in a blender and mixed with lots of ice. Success! – another cold noodle soup! I couldn’t believe how easy it was. It tasted like the real deal once I threw in a pinch of salt. Then, I boiled the noodles called “Somyun” (thin noodle made of flour) in hot water for 4 minutes and rinsed in cold water 3 times. I tried these Japanese noodles to see the difference to the Korean noodles. It was exactly the same!
For the final step, add the noodles to the soup, chop some cucumbers and it’s ready to eat! I must admit it was almost too easy to make with this soybean powder so I think I am going to have to force myself to use the proper way next time. Anyway, I would give this pre-made soybean noodle powder 8 out of 10 for the taste!