Summer is almost over but it is not over yet so I brought a cold noodle recipe for those of you that live where it's too hot to cook!

Naengmyeon literally means "cold noodles".

Usually, the noodle is made from buckwheat, sweet potato starch and wheat flour.

The broth is traditionally made from beef and veggie broth which requires at least an hour of boiling then cooling and straining it.

It is a lot of work to eat a bowl of naengmyeon. 

Since this is a low carb/keto channel,

I substituted the noodles for cucumber noodles or coodles (I am hoping the name catches on! #coodles). 

The coodles gives this dish extra freshness and will honestly cool you to your bones!!

The broth is a no cook broth so you don't have to stand in front of the stove when it's hot.

The broth uses dried kelp, or dasima, and dried shiitake mushrooms along side other veggies. So, incidentally this dish is vegan and vegetarian friendly! How about that! 

Naengmyeon broth is usually sweet and tangy hence the added sugar alternative and apple cider vinegar. These can be adjusted based on your taste. 

I used a Korean pear for the broth as it is traditional to use a korean pear, however, if you do not live near a Korean market, it might be difficult to find so you can use a regular American pear. 

Korean pear is juicier and sweeter than an American pear so you might have to add a little more sugar at the end. 

I also used Korean cucumbers for my 'coodles' because I personally like the taste of Korean cucumbers and their skin is a little thinner than the other long cucumber. I think that english cucumber can work well as well.  

Naengmyeon broth

Cold water 1200ml

Radish 200g

Korean pear 116g (1/2 small to medium pear)

Onion 63g

Monk Fruit sweetener 3T

Sea salt 1.5T

Apple cider vinegar- 3T

Minced Garlic 1/2T

Minced Ginger 1t

Dried Kelp 7g

Dried shiitake mushrooms 21g

Coodles

1.5 korean cucumbers (each cucumber is about 1 foot long)

1) Slice the radish, pear and onion thinly.

2) Wet a cloth or a paper towel and squeeze out extra liquid. 

3) Use it to wipe the salt off of the kelp.

4) Rinse the dried shiitake mushroom under running water and use the cloth to wipe the crevices.

5) Add everything including seasonings into a large mason jar or container

6) Give it a shake and let it sit at room temperature for about 2 hours.

7) After 2 hours, keep it in the fridge for at least 24 hours or until ready to eat. The broth gets stronger and more savory as time goes on. It can keep in the fridge for about 5 days. 

8) 2 hours before eating, spiralize the coodles. 

9) Taste the broth and see if you need to add more sugar, salt or vinegar. I ended up adding about 1/2T of salt. 

10) Put spiralized coodles into a container and pour some broth inside.

11) Keep in fridge until ready to eat. 

12) Once ready to eat, put some coodles into a bowl, pour some broth, put some veggies from the broth if it fits your macros, put some ice and top with korean spicy mustard if you like. 

Since this dish alone is low carb AND low fat...I would recommend serving it with a high fat meat or even with boiled egg!

Typically, Koreans eat naengmyeon with galbi or korean barbeque. 

I will make a recipe for that...stay tuned!

You can use the leftover broth to make cold cucumber and seaweed soup!

Just add rehydrated seaweed, sliced cucumber, some broth and toppings and a splash of vinegar. 

And voila, you have another no cook meal!!

I hope this gets you through the hot summer!