Onmyeon is not as flashy as some of the other Korean soups and noodle soups that I’ve featured in my Korean Food Project, but it is a good fit for people who don’t like spicy food. It’s a relatively simple beef broth-based noodle soup. Actually, the preparation and ingredients reminded me of bibimbap, the famous Korean mixed-beef-and-vegetables-rice dish — if bibimbap were served with noodles and broth instead of rice and without its characteristically spicy red pepper paste.
You can also think of onmyeon as a broth-based, non-spicy version of bibimmyeon (spicy noodles), which I cooked earlier this year.
Onmyeon (Warm Noodle Soup) — 온면
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 10 oz. stewing beef
- 5 c. water
- 4 scallion stalks
- 3 cloves garlic
- salt and soy sauce to taste*
- vegetable oil for frying
- 2 large eggs
- 1 medium zucchini
- 4 dried Chinese mushrooms**
- 10 oz. somyeon (wheat noodles)***
*To make this recipe gluten free, I used San-J Organic Tamari Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (available at Whole Foods or for $6.69 + shipping on Amazon.com.)
**You can buy these mushrooms in Asian grocery stores and rehydrate them by soaking them in hot water for 15-20 minutes. If the mushrooms are still not soft after soaking, simmer them in a pot for 10 more minutes. (See photo above.)
***As noted above, somyeon noodles are wheat noodles. To make this recipe gluten free I swapped in dahng myeon, the sweet potato starch noodles I used when I cooked japchae earlier this year. Other gluten-free noodle options include rice noodles or 100% buckwheat noodles, which are available at specialty grocery stores and on Amazon.com for about $15. FYI, dahng myeon noodles are translucent, relatively bland and chewy, so substituting them for somyeon will change the look, taste and texture of onmyeon. Thin rice noodles are probably the closest gluten-free substitute for somyeon.
Steps
- Place beef in large saucepan with water, scallion and garlic.
- Bring to boil, lower to simmer and cook until beef is tender, about 30 minutes.
- Soak mushrooms in warm water for 30 minutes to rehydrate.
- Remove beef from liquid, reserving liquid and cut into ½-inch-thick slices.
- Discard garlic and scallions. Add salt and soy sauce to broth to taste.
- Beat eggs and fry them. Cut into thin strips and set aside.
- Cut zucchini in half lengthwise, remove seeds, then slice into thin strips. Sprinkle strips with salt and leave for 10 minutes to sweat.
- Squeeze out excess water, then fry for about 1 minute in 1 Tbsp. oil.
- Squeeze excess water from mushrooms. Slice caps thinly, then fry in 1 tsp. oil for 1 minute.
- Bring medium saucepan of water to boil and add noodles. Cook until soft.
- Remove noodles from water and rinse in cold water. Divide into 4 bowls.
- Top noodles with beef slices and garnish with egg, zucchini and mushrooms.
- Pour broth into each bowl and serve.
