spicy Korean cold noodle salad
Serving food cold tempers the flavors, so don’t be afraid of this punchy sauce. The recipe calls for gochugaru, a flaky Korean chili powder, but if you can’t find it feel free to substitute Aleppo pepper (or, in a pinch, flaky not-smoked paprika). Here, Asian pear doesn’t taste fruity, but instead adds lightness to the sauce texture and an undercurrent of fresh juiciness. If you can’t find one, try using a mild apple variety like Fuji or Gala. To get the crunchiest vegetables possible, try soaking the radishes and scallions in ice water while you cook. It’s not strictly necessary, but it will keep everything cold n’ crisp.
yield 4 servings
riffing
swap broccolini for broccoli, shredded cabbage or snap peas sliced on a bias
use cubes of pressed tofu in place of shrimp (or skip it altogether!)
a couple regular red radishes or a small daikon could sub in for watermelon radish
add some thinly sliced fennel or red onion
sauce
1 Asian pear
1/4 cup gochujang
3 T coconut sugar or light brown sugar
2 T soy sauce or Tamari
2 T fresh ginger (about 2 inches), peeled and roughly chopped
1-2 T gochugaru chili flake
4-6 garlic cloves
1 T rice wine vinegar
shrimp and broccolini
1 T neutral oil
2 bunches broccolini, about 3/4 lbs, cut in 2-inch pieces, halved lengthwise if thick
1 lb large or medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
noodles and assembly
4 instant ramen packets or 1lb ramen/yakisoba noodles
1 medium watermelon radish, thinly sliced
4 scallions, thinly sliced on a bias
2 T toasted sesame seeds
3 sprigs mint, leaves separated
2 ts sesame oil (optional)
recipe prep
Peel, core and coarsely grate Asian pear. Squeeze out excess liquid from the pear and reserve. To the bowl of a food processor, add grated pear, gochujang, sugar, 1 tablespoon gochugaru, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and vinegar. Blend until you have a thick, smooth sauce (thin out with some reserved pear liquid as needed to blend). Taste, add an extra tablespoon of gochugaru if you’d like a little extra heat.
Add 1 tablespoon neutral oil to a wok or large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add broccolini and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, stirring occasionally until any leaves are wilted and stalks are a little tender and caramelized, 2-4 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of the gochujang pear sauce and stir to combine. Add the shrimp, toss to coat in the sauce and spread out. Cook, stirring occasionally, until shrimp are just barely opaque (they will keep cooking off the heat). Remove from heat and transfer shrimp and broccolini to a large bowl to cool.
Cook noodles according to package directions (without any seasoning packets). Drain the noodles and immediately run them under cold water to stop the cooking process and remove excess starch.
Add noodles to the bowl with shrimp and broccoli. Add radishes, half the scallions and half the remaining gochujang pear sauce and toss to evenly coat. Add more sauce if needed/desired and use reserved pear liquid (or water if you don’t have anymore) as needed to thin out the sauce.
Garnish with remaining scallions, roughly torn mint leaves, sesame seeds. Drizzle sesame oil over the top, if using. Serve immediately or chill in the fridge for an hour or two.
that extra sauce You might end up with extra sauce! Lucky you! Sauce will keep for about a week. Stir it into rice, smear it on sandwiches or use it wherever you’d like some funky heat.
do it ahead The sauce can be made 2 days ahead and the whole thing can be made a day ahead, just wait to tear and add the mint until serving time.
This recipe was created with produce from LOAM Agronomics farm and originally published on their website.
