Korean spicy soba noodle salad, called bibimguksu (비빔국수), is a favorite summer dish I recall from my childhood in Seoul. It is great to make on a hot summer day, since it involves minimal cooking, and the dish itself is served cold. Packed with crunchy texture and flavor, this quick and easy recipe includes many fresh vegetables, which makes the noodle salad very light and refreshing.
This no-fuss recipe allows you to be liberal with the type and amount of vegetable toppings you use. I like to use a variety of vegetable toppings with vibrant colors, since they make this dish not only taste wonderful, but also look really beautiful! The buckwheat soba noodles and the fresh vegetables offer crunchy texture and mild flavors.
A spicy red sauce ties the whole assembly together into a dish. The spicy red sauce is made with Korean chili paste, gochujang (고추장). It brings a delectable balance of sweetness and spiciness to the noodle salad. You can adjust this balance by modulating the amount of gochujang you put into the sauce, or control how much sauce you add to your salad, according to your own taste or heat tolerance.
This mouth-watering noodle salad is vegetarian, and can even be modified to be vegan by omitting the eggs. If you haven’t tried this noodle salad yet, you must give it a try!
Ingredients
Base
- 2 bundles (200g) Buckwheat Soba Noodles
Toppings
- 1 cup Lettuce
- 1/4 cup Cucumber
- 1/2 cup Broccoli slaw
- 1/2 cup Red or green cabbage
- 1/4 cup Carrot
- 2 Eggs
- 2 Tbsp Toasted Sesame Seeds
- 1/4 cup Roasted seaweed
Sauce
- 2 Tbsp Gochujang (Korean chili paste)
- 2 Tbsp Soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp Sesame oil
- 1 Tbsp Rice vinegar
- 1 Tbsp Sugar
Instructions
First, prepare the noodles. Boil 3 quarts of water in a pot and add the soba noodles. Cook for 5 minutes and drain in a colander. Immediately, rinse the soba noodles with cold water until they are cooled. This will stop the cooking process and ensure that the noodles don’t get overcooked.
Next, prepare the vegetables for the noodle salad. Thinly shred lettuce, purple cabbage, and carrots. For the carrots, you can buy pre-shredded carrots, or grate them with a grater. Also, cut the cucumbers into 1/8 inch slices. The broccoli slaw should be already pre-shredded and ready to be added to the noodle salad.
After that, hard-boil the eggs. Put the eggs in a pot with enough water to cover them. Cook on high until the water starts to boil. Then turn off the heat and let the eggs cook for 10 minutes from residual heat with the lid on. Once the eggs are finished cooking, cool them in cold water to make the peeling easier. Cut the peeled eggs in half.
Finally, make the spicy sauce for the salad. Making the sauce is super easy; Simply mix gochujang, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, and sugar in a bowl. If you are making this for somebody who cannot handle any amount of heat, feel free to omit the guchujang. The salad will still be refreshing and delicious.
With the sauce prepared, you are almost ready to enjoy the mouth-watering spicy soba noodle salad. In a bowl or a plate, assemble the noodle salad with soba noodles, vegetables, hard-boiled eggs, and shredded roasted seaweed. Add one or two tablespoons of the red sauce, sprinkle some sesame seeds, and enjoy!
If you like this Korean spicy soba noodle salad, you might also be interested in the Japanese Carrot Ginger Dressing. Also, make sure to subscribe via email or follow me on Instagram to get the latest updates on all my new recipes!
Korean Spicy Soba Noodle Salad
Ingredients
- 2 bundles Buckwheat soba noodles 200 g
Toppings
- 1 cup Lettuce
- ¼ cup Cucumber
- ½ cup Broccoli Slaw
- ½ cup Red or green cabbage
- ¼ cup Carrot
- 2 Tbsp Toasted sesame seeds
- ¼ cup Roasted seaweed
Spicy Red Sauce
- 2 Tbsp Gochujang Korean chili paste
- 2 Tbsp Soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp Sesame oil
- 1 Tbsp Rice vinegar
- 1 Tbsp Sugar
Instructions
- Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil and add the soba noodles. Cook for 5 minutes and drain in a colander. Rinse the soba noodles with cold water until cool.
- Put the eggs in a pot with enough water to cover them. Bring the water to a boil and turn off the heat. Let the eggs cook for 10 minutes with the lid on. Peel the eggs and cut in half.
- Thinly slice lettuce, cabbage, carrot, and cucumber. Use cooking scissors to cut roasted seaweed into thin shreds.
- Mix all the spicy red sauce ingredients in a bowl.
- Assemble the noodle salad. To the soba noodles, add the vegetable toppings, eggs, and the spicy red sauce. Add a Sprinkle of Sesame seeds.
Notes
- If you or someone else does not want the sauce to be spicy, omit the gochujang. It will still be delicious in a different way!
1jacobus
Wonderful fusion cuisine!
Great idea!