Here is another quick and delicious recipe made with fermented kimchi: bibim-guksu, cold spicy noodles. It’s one of my favorites, so I make it often. If I don’t make these noodles for a while, I really have a craving for them.
This recipe is really quick to make. The first thing I do is boil some water in a large pot for the egg and noodles. Then I chop some kimchi and mix it together with the seasonings. Cooking noodles is the last step because they go soggy fast so after rinsing and draining the cooked noodles, I quickly mix them with the kimchi and seasonings by hand, and then serve and eat immediately.
All my Korean friends and my family love these noodles, they are always a big hit and a really good way to feed a lot of people quickly and simply (as long as they like spicy food). This recipe is for a single serving so you can easily multiply the ingredients to make a bigger batch. I made it with my reader Susanne in Rotterdam during my Gapshida tour in 2011 and we served 30 people!
Many of you make kimchi on a regular basis, so I hope you enjoy this recipe if you’ve never tried it before. You will love it!
Ingredients
For 1 serving
- 4 ounces (about 110 grams) somyeon (thin wheat noodles)
- 4 ounces fermented kimchi, chopped
- ¼ cup kimchi brine (or cold water)
- 2 tablespoons gochujang (Korean fermented hot pepper paste)
- 1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- ½ cup worth cucumber, cut into matchsticks
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, ground
- 1 half-boiled egg (or hard-boiled egg)
Directions
- Combine kimchi, kimchi brine, gochujang, sugar (if used), garlic, and sesame oil in a large bowl. Mix well with a spoon.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the noodles. Stir them with a wooden spoon and cover. Cook for about 3 minutes 30 seconds. Only a minute into the cooking, it may start boiling over. Just stir the noodles and crack the lid.
- Taste a sample to see if the noodles are nicely cooked or not. The noodles should be chewy but without anything hard inside.
- Drain the noodles in a strainer and rinse them in cold running water until they are cold and no longer slippery. Drain well and add to the kimchi mixture.
- Mix everything well and transfer to a large bowl. Add the cucumber and the egg and sprinkle some sesame seeds over top. Serve right away.
Kimchi bibim-guksu and Eomukguk (fishcake soup)
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Yummy! Thank you Maangchi :D
Wow, your bibim-guksu looks so refreshing, spicy, and tasty!
Made this guksu for my hubby’s birthday dinner and added a side of korean fried chicken chunks using your sauce recipe. Two big thumbs up from him! We’ll have this again soon. I used bucatini noodles because it’s what I had, but they’re thick and chewy and my favorite, and went very well with the sauce.
I’m absolutely thrilled that your husband loved the birthday feast you prepared! The fried chicken and spicy mixed noodles look absolutely mouthwatering.
Seeing your creative twist on my spicy mixed noodles with bucatini noodles was a delightful surprise. I should try them out someday, too. : )
Happy cooking!
Hi Maangchi! Thank you so much for sharing this dish, I make it all the time. I always make a lot of sauce so I can save some for later, and I think I will bring it to a pot luck in a few weeks. Thanks as always <3
Made bibimguksu today❣️
Fantastic! Cold, thin, and chewy noodles tossed in a flavorful kimchi-based sauce are my go-to dish, whether it’s just for myself or when unexpected guests arrive.
I make this about once a week or more. I am not Korean in any way, but this has become one of my ultimate comfort foods. I sometimes “cheat,” like I made it today with conventional spaghetti noodles, cheaper and I don’t have to special order them, but I think the result is still great. I also didn’t have cucumbers on hand today, but I have some pickled radishes (homemade!) that I think did the whole trick.
I positively adore you! You have opened me up to so much Korean food I would never have tasted otherwise, and they are now a staple of my daily diet. I have bibim-guksu chilling in my fridge, and it’s taking all my willpower not to scarfe the lot right now.
This recipe turned out perfectly! I just reduced the amount of gochujang by a little bit, since my better half isn’t as fond of spicy food as I am. Still tasted amazing! Thank you, Maangchi!
Your presentation looks amazing! Very colorful and pretty!
I made it! Replaced noodles with yam noodles and left out sugar to make it more diet friendly. I should have made this in summer (I probably will make it again in the future when it gets warmer out) but it was delicious even in spring. Very simple and quick and it tastes delicious! Thank you Maangchi ❤️
Merhaba ben Yasin kore yemekleriyle uğraşıyorum sizin tariflerini büyük hayranlıkla takipesiyorum
Yeaahh, nice video. thanks for mentioning me. I will never forget this event.
The picture made me think this was bibim-naengmyeon, which is one of my favorite recipes of yours, but this is definitely a lot easier.
Wow, this was delicious and so easy! It’s my new favorite lunch.
It looks so tasty!
This spicy kimchi bibim-guksu is my all time favorite! I made it even yesterday for my lunch!
I tried your recipe and slightly modified it by adding more ingredients. I had left over julienned cucumber and carrot as well as omelette from the kimbap I made. I just cut the omelette into strips, and all these went into the bibim guksu. It’s quite delicious! Thank you!
Great!
I had a leftover oisobagi and a lot of juice, too much fermented to enjoy it as a banchan so I made bibimguksu with it, some julienned carrot, onion, some lettuce, one half-cooked egg sprinkled with sesame seeds and kimgaru. It was perfectly yummy
It sounds great!
Maangchi, I made it for the first time! But I don’t know why mine is too hot :( maybe it’s the kimchi I bought Couldn’t finish it. Too hot
Hi Maangchi! I have tried a couple of your recipes before and they have all been fantastic. I now live in Mazatlan, Mexico (from Canada) and it is difficult to find supplies here. I am also currently following the KETO diet which adds to the search. So, I’m trying this recipe tonight with bulgogi but using spaghetti squash in place of the noodles. I’ve substituted any sugars with Swerve brown sugar sweetener and Monk fruit sweetener. I didn’t have cucumber which my husband doesn’t like anyway and substituted with sliced red peppers. Well it all turned out really good. So good in fact it is now my favorite way to eat spaghetti squash. Definitely recommend for any of your followers who can’t eat regular noodles. Thank you so much for giving us these wonderful recipes!
Mummm !!! Faut aujourd’hui sans oeuf. Un régal! !!!!
I just had these noodles minus the cucumber (cause I didn’t have any) and the egg (cause I don’t eat eggs) but wow! It’s actually delicious for something so simple and easy to make. I used well fermented kimchi, at least two months old. And it’s really healthy too since there’s no frying involved, and you get all the nutrition from raw kimchi. Definitely a recipe to go back to
My homemade Bibimguksu…yummy..
This was sooooo delicious! Thank you Maangchi. It was a very humid day today, and this really hit the spot. You’re the best! :)
Hello ! I lived now in a very hot place ( Saudi Arabia) and this cold noodles are fantastic for a hot day!
I don’t like hard boiled egg and I prepared fried tofu instead and went very delicious!
Thank you Maangchi!
And: my best friends here in KSA are Korean girls! They are like sisters for me!
I didn’t fancy it cold, so I heated up the sauce, to pour over hot freshly cooked noodles then added the eggs and cucumber on top, both cold cold. Delicious!
Can we prepare bibim gumsu the night before for lunch ?
I wouldn’t recommend it. The noodles don’t keep well. They get a weird, almost soggy, texture. If you want something similar, use western angel hair noodles instead. Not the same but they keep well. Or just boil the noodles at lunch time if that is convenient
Hi Maangcho! My storebought kimchi does not have enough liquid so in order to make the sauce, should i just add some water? What should I do to make it flavourful?
This recipe was so wonderful I could not wait to make it. I only had wide rice noodles though. I will make sure next time I have thin on hand . I am vegan so I veganize many of your recipes. Thank you so much.
Your bibimguksu looks very tasty! Yum!
Hi Maangchi,
I wanted to say thank you for your delicious recipes. I have been watching your videos for months and tonight I made bibimguksu with bulgogi as well and it was absolutely delicious. It was my first attempt at Korean cooking and I will do much more!
Next time I will make it for 10 people :D
Thanks a bunch!
Sarah from Sydney
Hi Sarah,
Congratulations! Yummy!
i tried this noodle, mmm yummmrr spicccy, delicioussss
Hi there, i would like to try this recipe but just realised that there are different types of vinegar in the supermarket. May i know what kind of vinegar should i use? artificial vinegar? apple cide vinegar ? or any other types?
You can use either white or apple vinegar. https://www.maangchi.com/ingredients/apple-vinegar
Loved this dish. I wanted to make it again but ran out of noodles so I used spaghetti noodles. It was still good, just diferent. Is there any way to make them a little less spicy for my kids?
Spaghetti noodles worked well? good!
“Is there any way to make them a little less spicy for my kids? Use less hot pepper paste then.
They sell less spicy pepper paste in the Korean market. I didn’t know this myself, even though I’m Korean, but a couple of months ago my sister bought it by accident, we couldn’t figure out why it was so mild until I read the container.
At my local Asian market, no one can read Korean and I do not know if they sell a mildly hot pepper paste as they only carry a couple of brands and I do not think it sells well. I just buy the same familiar tub every time and I dilute it a little bit with water or agave nectar. My kids are especially big fans of dubu-jorim as well as this recipe. I know this post is old but I thought I may comment for future parents who are trying to encourage their kids to eat more Korean cooking as well. Now that I have served up a few sweetened dishes with red pepper paste I have found I do not have to dilute it as much because my kids are adjusting to it.
All type of pasta will do?? i love spicy food. I love pasta and I want to try your spicy noodles. It seems that it is very easy to prepare. I’m gonna buy ingredients so that I can make spicy mixed noodles.=)
I use somyeon (thin noodles) for bibimguksu. https://www.maangchi.com/ingredients/somyeon
kimchi noodles wow! kimchi sauce on a noodles! how about using it with soba noodles what will it came out?
It will work well,too but I prefer white thin noodles. https://www.maangchi.com/ingredients/somyeon
I love it, so good ! I made it for my family for dinner. We are all so happy. I used Buckwheat noodles, it’s what was in the pantry.
Thanks !
Wonderful! Sharing delicious food with family is so fun!
I just made this with fettuccine because that’s all I had. I know it was so wrong but it tasted so right. :)
Fettuccine worked well? awesome! Thank you for sharing your tip with my readers!
I tried on this recipe, its really easy but instead of somyeon which i didnt stock up, i tried the sauce with buckwheat noodles. It was really yummy!!! I am sure this dish will be all time fav in my future pot luck menu!!
yes, it will work well with buckwheat noodles. It will be more chewy! yum!
This recipe is good, but I dont understand the noodles, are they made from normal rice or sticky rice?
It’s wheat flour noodles. I buy it at a Korean grocery store. https://www.maangchi.com/ingredients/somyeon
damn i can not find it in my place :( there is a korean super market that is 50km far from my place
Ye Ye, My dish was soo delicious. We’ll translate this new time favorite soon..www.koreaanskoken.com
Hi susanne. I live in eindhoven. Can you recommend me some good korean restaurants in Netherlands? Thank you!
Literally right after you posted this video on youtube, I went to my kitchen and started boiling some eggs and mixing the sauce. It was so ironic that as I was thinking about what I’d make for dinner, I saw your new video. It worked out awesome because I made way too much kimchi last time, and its getting really sour. However, this recipe is PERFECT for that problem! =D I added photo to flickr but dunno if I did it right. I used soba noodles (buckwheat noodles) to make this, and honestly, one of the best things in awhile. My husband gave it a 9/10 rating, which is awesome coming from him. Another plus – my nose is no longer stuffy!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/75408485@N02/6779172627/in/photostream/lightbox/