Sometimes when I get home late and don’t particularly like what’s been left for me at the dinner table, I turn to a comforting noodle dish. Inspired by Korean noodle dishes such as guksu and japchae, this is a steaming bowl of goodness that’s so savory yet easy to do, with minimal cooking involved.
I used buckwheat vermicelli in this dish, but other types, such as brown rice vermicelli or regular vermicelli will work fine. I like plenty of scallions, ginger, and garlic in the soup. The broth is made more savory with the distinctive taste of the toasted nori. The egg swimming in the broth, once broken and swirled into a yummy soup, ups the comfort factor. The soothing combination of hot broth, the spicy and sweet, the various tastes and textures, helps ease away the cares of the day.
This is not such a difficult dish to pull off. The key is in the assembly of ingredients.
Noodles Korean Style
single serve buckwheat vermicelli noodles (or regular vermicelli)
2 cups water (add more if needed)
2 TBsps. ground pork
salt and pepper to taste
½ tsp. light soy sauce
½ tsp. sesame oil
pinch of brown sugar
1 clove garlic, chopped
¼ tsp. finely chopped ginger
scallions, sliced on the diagonal
dried mushrooms, soaked in cold water, then sliced
nori strips
pinch of chili powder (optional, skip if you don’t like spicy)
1 medium egg
Soak vermicelli in a bowl of cold water. In a saucepan, bring two cups of water to a rolling boil. Drain vermicelli into a wire mesh strainer. Submerge vermicelli in boiling water for 5 minutes, drain, and then arrange in a serving bowl.
Keep the remaining water boiling, but set heat to low.
In a separate bowl, mix salt, pepper, and ground pork. Turn up heat to bring water to a boil. Place ground pork in the strainer and lower into the boiling water and let cook, about 5-7 minutes. Once cooked, take out and drain, then place over noodles in the bowl. Do the same with the mushrooms.
Lower heat to keep broth simmering while you assemble the rest of the ingredients in the bowl of noodles. Put garlic, scallions, and ginger, on top of the noodles. Add in light soy sauce and sesame oil, then the brown sugar. Add in nori strips and pinch of chili powder.
Break the egg gently over the noodles.
Turn off heat and pour broth over the noodles. This will cook the egg. Break gently into the soup, swirling to distribute the yolk and mix the ingredients together. Enjoy!