Naengmyeon

A cold bowl

Naengmyeon simply means cold noodles, and the name says most of it. The diner gets a big metal bowl, usually brass or stainless steel, filled with long, thin noodles in a chilled, tangy broth. The noodles are handmade, worked from buckwheat flour, the most common base, or from the starch of potatoes, sweet potatoes or arrowroot, which gives a darker, chewier strand. Rarer doughs use kudzu root, seaweed or green tea. On top go shredded cucumber, slices of Korean pear, wide ribbons of lightly pickled radish, and a boiled egg or some cold sliced beef, often both.

Northern beginnings

The written trail starts with the Dongguksesigi, a nineteenth-century book of Korean seasonal customs, which records the dish as already established in the Joseon period. Naengmyeon began as a delicacy of the north, above all in Pyongyang and Hamhung, whose styles still carry the cities' names. For a long while it stayed a northern specialty; after the Korean War it spread widely, and it is now eaten and loved in both North and South Korea. It has even entered statecraft: at the first summit between the two Korean leaders, Kim Jong Un gave Moon Jae-in a gift of Pyongyang-style raengmyŏn.

Broth or chilli

Two kinds lead. Mul naengmyeon is a cold soup: noodles in an iced broth drawn from beef, chicken or dongchimi, a mild radish kimchi that is a Pyongyang signature, where this style began. The Pyongyang bowl uses buckwheat noodles, beef or pheasant broth and slices of radish. Bibim naengmyeon is the dry kind, tossed with a hot red dressing of gochujang, a chilli paste, and a side of broth arrives hot or cold, topped with boiled egg and cucumber. Hamhung's hoe naengmyeon adds marinated raw fish, most often skate, sometimes pollock. Yeolmu naengmyeon, a summer bowl, comes with kimchi of summer radish leaves. Around Jinju, on the south coast, the broth blends seafood with meat, garnished with abalone, sea cucumber and shiitake mushrooms.

At the table

The table manners are gentle ones. Servers at noodle houses usually ask whether the long noodles should be cut, and many provide scissors for the purpose, though the old habit was to swallow each strand whole. Mustard oil and vinegar are set out, with the oil often handed over only on request; in the Pyongyang style, sugar goes in too, while South Korean bowls leave it out. In South Jeolla Province, cooks stir red chilli paste straight into the mul broth, halfway to a bibim bowl. Each guest mixes the bowl to taste before eating.

Around the world

Naengmyeon travelled with Korean cooks. In Korean Chinese restaurants, jungguk-naengmyeon arrives with mustard and peanut butter alongside, a style shaped by Chinese tastes. Just over the border, Northeast China has its own cold noodle bowls, known there as Korean or Dongbei cold noodles, and the seasoning changes from town to town: Yanji's famous version is sour and sweet, while Jixi keeps its sour and salty. In Japan, Morioka in the northern Tohoku region counts reimen among its regional dishes, a style first made by Korean immigrants. For kitchens far from a noodle house, instant packs exist, broth prepackaged with the noodles and a sachet of mustard oil tucked in.

How Naengmyeon is kept

Naengmyeon is an everyday dish of homes and noodle houses rather than a ceremony. A cook forms long, thin noodles by hand from buckwheat or starch dough and chills them well. For mul naengmyeon they are set in a large brass or steel bowl of iced broth, beef, chicken or dongchimi; for bibim they are mixed with gochujang dressing. Garnishes follow: cucumber, Korean pear, pickled radish, a boiled egg or cold beef, or raw fish in the Hamhung style. Each diner then seasons the bowl with vinegar, mustard oil or sugar and eats, ideally without cutting the noodles.

When and where

No fixed date belongs to the dish. It was historically a winter food, but the chilled mul kind is now commonly eaten in summer, and people enjoy it all year. A nineteenth-century seasonal record, the Dongguksesigi, counted it among the customs of the Joseon year.

Naengmyeon comes from northern Korea and is tied above all to Pyongyang and Hamhung. Since the Korean War it has been common across both North and South Korea, and related bowls are kept in Northeast China, in Korean Chinese restaurants, and in Morioka in Japan.

What Naengmyeon means

The long, uncut strand is the heart of the custom: eaten whole, it stands for a long life and good health for whoever slurps it. The cold bowl itself has changed meaning over time, once a comfort of winter and now the dish people reach for in summer heat. Local styles carry civic pride: Pyongyang-style raengmyŏn could be offered as a gift from one Korean leader to another, and Jinju's extravagant seafood broth was recorded in a 1994 North Korean book on folk traditions.

On the table

• buckwheat noodles
• dongchimi
• Korean pear
• gochujang
• skate
• yeolmu kimchi
• mustard oil
• pollock

Flavours: Mustard Chilli Sesame

Questions people ask about Naengmyeon

See also

Mid-Autumn FestivalAn annual harvest festival celebrating family reunions, full moons and mooncakesHalloweenAn annual observance on 31 October marking the eve of All Saints' Day, rooted in Christian tradition and Celtic heritageNowruzThe Iranian new year at the March equinox, kept with fire, greenery and picnicsSt John's EveBonfires, feasting and worship on the short night before John the Baptist's feast

Good reading and sources

• 'Cold noodles are peace symbol': summit to savour for euphoric Koreans | South KoreaThe Guardian, Article
• 'Cold noodles are peace symbol': summit to savour for euphoric Koreans | South KoreaThe Guardian, Article

• Naengmyeon on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-04.