What's For Dinner? Bibim Neang Myun

Bibim Neang Myun is a mouthful just to call out, and a wonderful tasty mouthful to eat! Bibim Neang Myun is a Korean dish based on buckwheat noodles. What with all the noise North Korea has been making the past few days I got a hankering for a little cold-war cuisine, or maybe we should call it Seoul Food! I am a huge fan of Asian cuisine, be it North Korean or South Vietnamese, or somewhere between or nearby.

Bibim Myun noodles are similar to lo mein or ramen. In Korea the noodles are served in both hot and cold soups or as the base of pasta-like dishes. The Bibim Neang Myun dish is a cold serving of noodles with the Neang being a spicy hot & sweet chili sauce. A pile of cooked and chilled noodles are covered with the chili sauce and traditionally garnished with thinly sliced cold beef or pork and juliennes of fresh vegetables such as cucumber, carrots, scallions and sesame seeds. Sometimes with slices of boiled egg or Asian pear. Bibim Neang Myun comes packaged similar to Top Ramen - along with the noodles there is a sauce pack, but instead of being a powder the chili sauce is liquid and added to the noodles after cooking.

I have found the chili sauce to be a wonderful compliment to lightly boiled shrimp. So when I boil my Bibim Myun noodles I will toss in a handful of peeled and deveined shrimp about half way through and then quickly rinse-drain-chill both of them. Both the noodles and shrimp cook very quickly so don't over-cook them. Nothing worse than mushy noodles and rubbery shrimp!

Allow the noodles and shrimp to chill while you slice and dice some matchstick sized juliennes of cucumber, carrot, and scallions. I don't have any scallions (green onions) so I will use some yellow onion. The noodles come packaged in a nest and retain that shape during cooking and the shrimp will stay separate from the noodles which makes it easy for assembling the plate. Place the nest of Bibim Myun on a plate. Cover the noodles with most of the chili sauce, saving a little to drizzle on top. Then arrange shrimp and vegetables on the nest of noodles and drizzle remaining chili sauce to finish.

Try Bibim Neang Myun with your choice of pork, beef, or shrimp as a cool and refreshing summer lunch or dinner. You can find Bibim Myun noodles at most Asian markets and in some supermarket's Ethnic Food aisle, and also find various chili sauces. You can substitute Lo Mein or Ramen noodles (just skip the powdered broth packet). To my taste the chili sauce that comes with the Bibim Neang Myun I buy is mild, which might be medium hot to many other people.