Hand-pulled noodles with seafood, or haemul kalguksu (해물칼국수), is always one of the most popular dishes at eateries across the country, as the dish is full of seafood, including clams, shrimps and oysters, is in a delicious anchovy stock, and has chewy hand-pulled noodles.

This noodle dish can be cooked with just about any type of seafood. The name kalguksu means a type of noodle that's kneaded by hand and then shredded with a knife.

Hand-pulled noodles with seafood is also a good dish that allows you to enjoy thin shelled surf clams, or bajirak (바지락), which are in season in the spring. These clams can be easily found in mudflats in the Yellow Sea. The dish is both tasty and has many healthy ingredients. According to the "Dongui Bogam" (동의보감, 東醫寶鑑), the best-known Joseon-era medical book, thin shelled surf clams help people avoid intoxication with alcohol. In fact, the betaine contained in the thin shelled surf clams helps to detoxify blood vessels, inner organs and to remove toxic substances, which helps people recover from fatigue, especially due to a hangover.



Historical records concerning kalguksu can be found in the “Eumsik Dimibang” (음식디미방, 飮食知味方), the first cookbook written in Korean. According to the Korean Food Foundation, hand-pulled noodles became popular after flour was imported in large quantities after the Korean War as food aid.

Even through it's already almost early spring, there's still a bit of cold out there due to the final cold snap of the season, and a steaming bowl of seafood noodle soup can really warm you.

** Ingredients
2 cups (190 g) flour
1 tsp (4 g) salt
1 egg (60 g)
¼ cups (50 g) water
2 tbsp(14 g) flour (additional flour)

hand rolled noodles soup:
11 cups (2.2 kg) water
50 g radish
30 g anchovies
10 g dried shrimp
20 g kelps
3 g (½ tsp) clear soy sauce
4 g (1 tsp) salt
¼ potato (50g)
50 g pumpkin
20 g green onion
1 tsp (5.5 g) minced garlic
50 g shrimp
1 cup (200 g) water
¼ tsp (1 g) salt
30 g oysters
1 cup (200 g) water
1 tsp (4 g) salt
200 g thin shelled surf clam
2 cups (400 g) water
½ tbsp (6 g) salt


** Preparation
1. Add salt, the beaten egg and water to the flour and knead it all together. Wrap it with a cotton cloth and let it sit for 30 minutes. Press and roll it with a wooden rolling-pin until it's 0.2 cm thick. Sprinkle on additional flour over the top. Roll the dough again and cut it into strips 0.2 cm wide.
2. Peel and wash the radish for the soup.
3. Remove the heads and internal organs of the anchovies (26 g). Wipe the kelp with a damp cotton cloth.
4. Wash the potatoes. Peel them and cut them into half-moons 0.5 cm thick. Clean the pumpkin. Peel the skin and make it into flat strips. Cut it to 0.3 cm wide. Clean the green onions and cut them diagonally.
5. Wash the shrimps and oysters by softly swishing them in salt water. Cover the thin shelled surf clams in salt and water and let them sit for 30 minutes so that they spit out any sediment.


** Recipe
1. Preheat a frying pan and stir-fry the anchovies and dried shrimp over medium heat for 2 minutes.
2. Put the radish, anchovies and dried shrimp into the soup water. Boil it over high for 10 minutes. When it boils, add the kelp. Reduce the heat to medium. Boil it for 10 minutes. Strain the soup and blend the noodle soup with salt and clear soy sauce.
3. Pour the blended soup into the pot and heat it over high for 9 minutes. When it boils, add the noodles, potatoes, pumpkin and seafood. Boil it for another 5 minutes. Season it with minced garlic and green onion. Bring it to a boil. .


By Yoon Sojung
Korea.net Staff Writer
In cooperation with the Institute of Traditional Korean Food (ITKF)
Content from “The Beauty of Korean Food: 100 Best-Loved Recipes”
arete@korea.kr