Korean-style mixed vegetable noodles
If you read my kimchi bokkeumbap post, you already know I love Korean food. The flavours are so unlike those of any other cuisine I've ever had. The first bite is always a revelation.
A couple of weeks ago, I went to one of my favourite haunts. It's a small restaurant called Jingogae in New Malden which honestly makes the best Korean food ever. I hadn't been there in a while and, for a change, Jess and I went for lunch rather than dinner. Instead of ordering our usual, kalbi/Korean BBQ, I had the spicy pork bibimbap. It was so good, I've been thinking about it ever since haha. This simple vegetarian offering is my twist on it. I've made it twice in two days so let that tell you how utterly addictive this stuff is.
It's not bibimbap or bibim-guksu because I use soba noodles rather than rice or somyeon noodles and I like to serve it warm (though cold leftovers are phenomenal and would make an amazing work lunch). But it's inspired by them and I've done my best to recreate that wonderful Korean red pepper paste (gochujang) sauce. It's tangy, sweet and spicy and turns this rather virtuous dish into something altogether slurp-worthy. Okay so a little bulgogi, or thinly sliced marinated beef, wouldn't be amiss. But for the nights you want to keep it simple, this veggie dish with a lovely fried egg is all you really need. You will have to pick up a tub of the gochujang (I've seen this in the world foods aisle in Sainsbury's) but it lasts for aeons and is really worth having in the fridge. Pick up some kimchi while you're there and you can make kimchi fried rice ;) Wins all round.
These mixed noodles are such an easy, tasty way to sneak in a few of your 5 a day. I used a vegetable peeler to create long thin strips of carrot and courgette but this would be a great time to get out that spiraliser you bought because of the Hemsley sisters last year and then never used again. The one time I didn't cave in and buy a kitchen gadget tsk tsk. Prepping the vegetables is the only bit that takes any time, everything else comes together super quick. And since you don't have to take pictures from every angle like I do, that means you can be stuffing your face in the five minutes it takes soba noodles to cook. Go, go, go!
#yolkporn - check!
Korean-style mixed vegetable noodles
Serves 2.
INGREDIENTS
- 80g soba noodles
- 2 tablespoons gochujang /Korean red pepper paste
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sesame/groundnut/vegetable oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced or grated
- 2 small carrots
- 1 small-medium courgette
- 2-3 big handfuls spinach
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder or 1 minced garlic clove
- 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 eggs
- sliced spring onions and sesame seeds, to decorate
METHOD
In a small bowl, mix together the gochujang, soy sauce, rice vinegar and minced garlic. Set aside.
Cut the courgette and carrots in half first crosswise and then lengthwise. Next, use a Y-shaped vegetable peeler to create long thin strips of carrot and courgette. Alternatively, you could use a spiraliser. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, add the soba noodles to boiling water and cook for 5 minutes, or according to packet instructions.
In the meantime, drizzle about a teaspoon of oil into a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the spinach and sprinkle with the garlic powder, chilli flakes and a good pinch of salt. Keep stirring for about 2 minutes or until the spinach has wilted. Transfer the spinach to a large plate or bowl.
Add the reserved carrot and courgette strips, keeping them separate, to the same pan and heat for just 1-2 minutes. Line up with the spinach on the same plate, so each vegetable takes up 1/4 of the plate.
Drain the soba noodles and fill the rest of the plate. Make some room in the centre to dollop the gochujang sauce. Bibimbap is usually served this way and then mixed at the table just before eating but feel free to pre-mix everything together.
Divide the mixture into two and scatter with sliced spring onions and sesame seeds, if using. Next, top each portion with a freshly fried, sunny side up egg. The yolk makes the sauce extra silky.
Feast.
Notes: If you're allergic to sesame, leave out the seeds and replace the sesame oil with your choice of oil.
Soba noodles made purely of buckwheat are gluten-free but make sure you check the ingredients when you buy as some have wheat mixed in. If gluten is your concern, you can also replace the soy sauce with tamari.
