happy sunday
how’s life? your family? pals? lovers? i won’t lie, it has been a bit of a weird one. without wanting to get too melodramatic about things, but losing a pet is absolutely harrowing and it’s been taking up a lot of emotional headspace. that being said, there have still been many positives, such as a lovely trip to the mountains with my friends, a meticulously planned date day and a spa-afternoon with all the sauna vibes. without further ado and ramblings (i’m not in too chatty of a mood, can you tell?), some impressions from hills’n’foods.
north korea. aka the democratic people’s republic of korea. this was a difficult one. for starters, finding actual recipes was a challenge. a lot of the dishes i found are south korean ones as much as they are north korean. this is partially due to that fact that people who migrated down south in 1952, after the korean war, brought their culinary heritage with them, and introduced some of their dishes to their homes, where they became a staple and are now firmly rooted in south korea as well. additionally, there generally isn’t much information out there on what north korean people actually eat on a daily basis. in addition to rice and kimchi, north koreans eat a lot of noodle dishes. meat tends to be rather rare and consumption of beef is prohibited, in fact, except for small amounts for special occasions. when beef is used, it is often in soups and stews, which is exactly what i attempted to do.
the dish i decided to give a right ol’ go at is called raengmyŏn, or naengmyeon in south korea. this staple is essentially a cold noodle dish with a broth and/or sauce and a variety of other toppings. the reason raengmyŏn is usually served cold is because of the type of noodle typically served with it. the noodles in question are made from buckwheat and thus would basically dissolve if served in a hot broth. i couldn’t find any naengmyeon (and also didn’t trust myself to make them), so i opted for japanese soba noodles which are also made from buckwheat but have a much chewier texture. they also hold up to hotter serving temperatures.
as far as the preparation of the dish went, there was nothing particularly complex in and of itself, but i had to make a variety of different components, such as a sweet and sour pickled radish, the broth (made from a bit of beef and aromatics simmered for a good while), a pseudo-dongchimi (essentially a variety of mild radish kimchi, which i should have let ferment for longer), a bibim naengmyeon sauce and other trimmings such as hard-boiled eggs and sliced pears. in order to ensure the dish is as cold as possible, all ingredients are cooled down after making and the final soup is served with ice cubes to ensure it continues to stay nice and cool during eating.
now. this was certainly an interesting dish. i’m not generally opposed to a cold soup, but i think this one very much fell victim to my non-existent expertise with the cuisine. it overall lacked a bit of flavour (although i must say the sauce did a lot of heavy lifting) and overall was somehow less than the sum of its parts. i very much believe that it’s a meal i would enjoy a lot more if it were actually prepared by a professional. marco felt similarly, although he was mostly put off by the unexpected temperature, and concluded he would have much preferred the soup hot. he awarded our north korean contender 55 pesh points. that being said, i would love to try this again at an actual restaurant, although i highly doubt there are many if any places in switzerland where one can try raengmyŏn.
next journey: central african republic.
geoculinary. 