Summer’s best cold noodles

By Korea.net Honorary Reporter Anita Emefa Hato 

Photos = Anita Emefa Hato 

As we get ready to bid farewell to the hot summer here in Korea, I hope it’s not too late to recommend what is, in my opinion, one of the best cold noodle restaurants that I've ever stumbled upon here at Namdaemun Market in Seoul.

Yookssam Naengmyeon (육쌈 냉면)

There's a really good cold noodles (냉면) restaurant in Namdaemun Market that I discovered a couple of week ago that I would like to share with you. Yookssam Naengmyeon (육쌈 냉면) is located inside Namdaemun Market here in Seoul. It serves very delicious and seasonal menu items, everything you can think of.

Honestly, I was a bit skeptical about going to eat there with my friend on our way to do a photo shoot, but after we ordered and tried their cold noodles with the tasty charcoal grilled pork that came with it, I couldn’t wait to spread the word about this delicious place.

For those of you who don’t know about cold noodles, it's a noodles dish made with buckwheat noodles served in an ice cold broth with slices of radish, cucumber and half an egg.

Types of naengmyeon buckwheat noodles

There are two types of naengmyeon buckwheat noodles: mulnaengmyeon "water noodles" (물냉면) and bibimnaengmyeon "mixed noodles" (비빔냉면).

How to eat it

Before you start eating your noodles, you have to cut them into bite-sized lengths with a pair of scissors so that you can eat them easily, as they are very long. Thus if you don’t want to go through the process of turning your chopsticks or fork for about 1,000 revolutions to get a mouthful, just use the scissors.

Naengmyeon vs. Busan’s milmyeon

I’m going to throw in a little bit of history here, too, by acknowledging that during the Korean War (1950-1953), people in Busan couldn’t afford the buckwheat needed to make cold buckwheat noodles. Their homes had been destroyed and it was difficult to get access to food and other ingredients. So in place of buckwheat noodles, they improvised and used wheat flour to make noodles. This is called milmyeon "flour noodles" (밀면). The sad thing is that it’s only a Busan dish. If you really want to try out that particular type of cold noodle, then Busan is the place to be.

Charcoal grilled pork, usually served with cold noodles

It’s important to note that not all the noodle restaurants here in Seoul serve their cold noodles with charcoal grilled pork. So keep an eye on the menu before ordering, otherwise you might be disappointed.

If you happen to be in the neighborhood of Namdaemun Market, do make it a point to check out this noodle restaurant. I promise that you'll love it as much as I did. I’m pretty sure they have several other branches around Seoul. So kindly look up the closest place to you.

Even though summer is almost over, I don’t think you should worry about having to wait until next year to enjoy some delicious naengmyeon cold buckwheat noodles.

Just as we can enjoy ice cream in the winter, so, too, you can enjoy cold buckwheat noodles no matter what the season.

wisdom117@korea.kr

Summer in Korea

By Korea.net Honorary Reporter Doha Ali 
Photos∙Video = Doha Ali

I'd be lying if I were to say that the weather in Korea in the summer is beautiful, because it's really, really hot these days and we're in the middle of summer now.

One year has already passed, and I still remember when I first came to Korea during this time of the year. It was summer and it was hot.

I didn't know a lot about Korea at that time. I had only heard about the beauty of Busan and how you can spend your summer vacation there. This year, I wanted to visit Busan to see the beauty about which I had heard so much. It was a way to escape this hot weather and to refresh my body in the oppressive heat.

What I felt when I got to Busan didn't just refresh my body, but also refreshed my soul. When you get to Busan, you'll see beauty everywhere. You'll feel the magic of the combination of the colors and how they are mixed perfectly to make a beautiful image of Korea's great southern port city. 

Here's a video of my experiences there.

Here are some photos I took.

Happy summer vacation, everybody~

wisdom117@korea.kr

If it's time to play with mud, it's time for the Boryeong Mud Festival

By Korea.net Honorary Reporter Alfonso Delgado

Photos = Alfonso Delgado

How I wished that the Boryeong Mud Festival was just in Seoul. However, I wondered, if it were, could I go home to my Hannam-dong neighborhood riding the subway and the bus all muddied and dripping in gray dirt, and shunned by the rest of the passengers like I were a carrier of an incurable disease called 'mud addiction'?

As it happens, the Boryeong Mud Festival, which celebrates the local mud's therapeutic values mixed with summer fun, is held in Boryeong City in Chungcheonnam-do Province on the western side of the Korean Peninsula, a two-hour drive from Seoul. 

Fortunately, no matter how far Boryeong is from wherever you live in Korea, you're sure to have a lot of fun this summer if you make it there.

I've been to the mud festival a few times already, and each visit is even more enjoyable than the previous one. Although the festival center is by Daecheon Beach, there are also other activities at the mud flats on the other side of the city.

At the mud flats, they hold a mud race for everyone who doesn't mind sprinting, sliding and stumbling in the mud while trying to finish the race. I didn't bother joining the race, as I knew I would have more fun just watching and taking photographs of the very competitive and muddied racers. Everyone was advised to wear disposable socks while running, as the shells on the beach could lacerate one's foot.

At the mud flats, they also hold what the organizers call "mudflat extremes," where all participants wear fatigue pants and black long-sleeve shirts while being ordered by a commanding officer to do push-ups and other military-type exercises in the mud. Did I mention there was also mud wrestling?

For those participating in the mud race and the "mudflat extremes," the event organizers provide water trucks where participants can shower off the mud and dirt afterward. Changing rooms are also provided. After cleaning themselves, participants are ferried back to the main event area near Daecheon Beach by bus.

At the muddy city center, where all the action is, Mud Square has all the less-strenuous, but equally muddy fun activities, like the mud slides, a mud prison, a muddy tug-of-war and other challenges, all in the name of mud and wet dirt.

Since it's all about getting dirty, I suggest you don't wear your most expensive white shirt or shorts to the festival. I always wore my water-proof blue shorts paired with a non-white dry-fit shirt. These are very easy to wash after. Also, wear rubber sandals or maybe aqua shoes for the same reason.

By the way, you don't need to bring your smartphone to Mud Square. Just bring your point-and-shoot camera protected by a waterproof case and sling it around your neck. This way, you can still capture your muddy fun moments that you can upload later to Facebook or to your blog. Make sure the battery is fully charged, too. Don't forget to bring some cash for various entrance fees, food and drinks in case you realize drinking muddy water doesn't exactly quench your thirst.

Since the final days of the festival is on a weekend, I would suggest you spend that weekend at Boryeong to maximize your time at the festival. During the day, they hold a very crazy rave party at Daecheon Beach, and at night revelers enjoy open-air concerts within the festival area featuring well-known singers and performers. Both events are free.

So who else is heading down to Boryeong City to get muddy this summer? This year, the fun starts on Friday, July 21, and ends on Sunday, July 30.

 You can either drive or take the bus or train to get there. Here's the official Boryeong Mud Festival website for details on how to get there and how to get all muddied up.

wisdom117@korea.kr