[Food] Hwe-Naengmyeon (회냉면, Korean Cold Noodle with Fermented and Seasoned Raw Sole on Top)

[Food]

[Food] Korean Cold Noodle with Fermented and Seasoned Raw Sole on Top

Jumunjin Port, Gangwon province (North-East Region), South Korea

Jumunjin is a very quiet, small port city in Gangwon province (North-East), South Korea. The city is famous for its Squid Festival (every summer) and as a filming site of many Korean dramas and K-pop music videos.

Raw flounder dish

As in other Korean port cities, the people of Jumunjin are very familiar with raw fish and seafood. They don't enjoy raw fish just by itself, but with cold noodles and spicy sauce too. Today, I want to introduce you to one of my favorite restaurants famous for Hwe-Naengmyeon (Korean cold noodle with fermented and seasoned raw sole on top).

Entrance of the restaurant. It just looks like a modern Korean house

Kitchen of the restaurant where everything is cooked

Menu, it's not expensive

Guideline for eating hwe-naengmyeon
1. Put as much mustard/vinegar/sugar as is desired
2. Pour meat broth onto the noodle to be mixed with the sauce
3. In case of buckwheat noodle, there’s no need to cut. In the case of sweet-potato noodles, it is convenient to eat them when cut 2-3 times.

Autographs of Korean celebrities who visited the restaurant

Appetizer. Traditional thin buckwheat pancake. A unique dish of Gangwon province.

Crispy outside, Chewy and soft inside.

Hwe-Naengmyeon. Thin and elastic noodle. Well-fermented and sweet, accompanied by spicy raw sole.

Raw sole's bones were intentionally left to give a crispy, hard and chewy flavor. On the other hand, its flesh is so tender as it is soaked in sauce, which some people dislike because of the bone and uncooked flesh.

Professional cold noodle cooks are reputed by the quality of the noodle; softness, chewy, elasticity etc.

Meanwhile, I’ve heard that cold noodles are one of the most unpopular Korean dishes for non-Koreans. I understand why (maybe, like cold soup, cold noodles are not familiar to non-Koreans), but it's worth a try! :)

Bon Appétit!

[Food] Jangkalguksu (장칼국수, Chopped noodle in spicy paste soup)

[Food]

[Food] Jangkalguksu (장칼국수, Chopped noodle in spicy paste soup)

Korea is in spring and beautiful flowers are blossoming everywhere. Numerous cherry-blossom trees are waving their pink palms under the golden rays of the unique blue sky. I decided to go to Jumunjin which is a small port town in the north of Gangneung city near the town of Yangyang.

I took a bus to Jumunjin with my good friend 'Hong'. The city is famous for squid and the filming site of Korean dramas. Jumunjin's warm and cool breeze had some saltiness to it.

Jumunjin isn't a town alive with the energy of the youth, but of busy grandmas and visiting tourists (like myself and Hong) breathing life into it. When I was a staff sergeant regularly visiting a military hospital near Jumunjin for the well-being of my fellow soldiers, the town was my playground where I enjoyed unique Korean gourmet during a short lunchbreak.

Today, I'll be visiting a Jangkalguksu restaurant that has been my frequent visiting place since my 'army-time' with Hong.

The only alley to the restaurant, behind old buildings.

You enter Jumunjin market and have to find a little billboard on the way to the heart of the market. Then you can find the way to get to the restaurant.

The restaurant looks like a normal Korean home, but it is a restaurant for people like Hong and I who eagerly want to gulp a bowl of Jangkalguksu. It was 3 o'clock (already one hour past the usual Korean lunchtime) but there was still a lady there finishing her dish.

Hong and I ordered 2 Jangkalguksu before we even sat (LOL) and waited for our happy moment to come. Soon, the female owner kicked the door of the room open with two dishes of Jangkalguksu, a dish of kimchi and kkakduki (radish kimchi) and a bottle of water in her hands, like a superhero who come out of nowhere to kick some ass.

I would say this kimchi is one of the best in Korea

I have never met anyone who says the jangkalguksu in this restaurant isn't 'the best'. If you are not fond of noodles, spicy or Korean food, I'm so sorry that you can't taste this fantastic dish.

The proof of its taste

After a happy time with Jangkalguksu, we walked for some time on our way to a bus stop back home. The spring sky, cherry-blossoms, river and winds...and deep-fried sticky bread with sweet white-bean paste in my hand.

It was sweet and fantastic. That's all I can say for now.

Bon Appétit!