Cycle 13 – Item 244

6 (Tue) September 2022

Bibim Naeng Myeon

2.5

at Pyongyang Myeonok

-Nonhyeon, Gangnam, Seoul, Republic of Korea-

with TB staff

Bibim Naeng Myeon is a Korean dish.  Buckwheat noodles, slathered in a gochujang-based sauce (slightly spicy, sweetish), typically topped with half of a boiled egg + sliced beef and/or pork + strips of radish and/or cucumber and/or pear.  The term “bibim” means “mixed,” same as in “bibimbap” (bap = rice).  The dish is the sibling of mul naeng myeon (MNM), which comes in a chilled beef/pork broth, no sauce, same toppings; also related to bibim myeon (see for example 9.219 Bibim Myeon) and jjol myeon (see 4.059 Jjol Myeon).  North Korean in origin.

Whereas MNM is my all-time favorite dish, covered and analyzed and ranked countless times on GMTD (see MNM), I am not a fan of BNM, which has been featured only twice before today, once at a restaurant (see 13.228 Naeng Myeon), once as a meal kit (see 12.075 Bibim Naeng Myeon).

I prefer BNM at Hamheung-style restaurants, because I don’t like the tangy Hamheung MNM broth, and I believe that the spicy sauce goes well with the chewier Hamheung noodles.

But if I’m at a proper Pyongyang-style restaurant, I will opt for the MNM, every time.

(See also HANSIK)

(See also RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)