By Request

BETTY SHIMABUKURO

Wednesday, December 5, 2001

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Korean noodle salad gets
piquancy from kim chee

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First there's kook soo -- thinly sliced vegetables and meat over noodles in hot soup -- and then comes bibimbap -- thinly sliced vegetables and meat over rice. And, finally, bibim kook soo -- thinly sliced vegetables over cold noodles, no soup.

And that's your guide to three of the most popular Korean noodle-and-rice dishes.

Shirley Wasano wrote looking for a bibim kook soo (also spelled gooksu) recipe.

"I've looked all over and can't seem to find one. My daughter moved to the mainland recently and can't find any restaurant in her location that serves this dish."

The dish is much like a Japanese cold somen salad, but it's spicier and uses wheat instead of rice noodles.

This version is vegetarian, but variations abound and you should feel free to improvise with sliced meats, bean sprouts or other vegetables. It's the flavoring mixture that's the key.

For those who'd like to make hot kook soo or bibimbap, you can follow these links or look them up at the public library nearest you:

>> Dec. 2, 1998, https://archives.starbulletin.com/1998/12/02/features/request.html, for kook soo .

>> April 7, 1999, https://archives.starbulletin.com/1999/04/07/features/request.html, for bibimbap.

Bibim Gooksu

"Dok Suni: Recipes from My Mother's Korean Kitchen" by Jenny Kwak (St. Martin's Press, 1998, $27.50)

2 fresh cucumbers, in long, skinny shreds
10 ounces kim chee, chopped coarse, with juice
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
14 ounces Korean wheat-flour noodles, dried

Combine ingredients except noodles, using hands to distribute seasonings evenly. Set aside.

Bring 10 cups of water to a boil; add noodles. Cook 7 minutes, stirring to prevent clumping. Strain and rinse with cold water to chill.

Add noodles to salad mixture, reserving some salad for garnish. Mix to coat noodles.

To serve: Place some ice in a shallow bowl and place the noodles on top in a swirl. Top with reserved salad mixture. Serves 3 to 4.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per serving: 600 calories, 5 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, no cholesterol, greater than 1,000 mg sodium, 120 g carbohydrate, 19 g protein.*

Food Stuffs: Morsels

Send queries along with name and phone number to:
"By Request," Honolulu Star-Bulletin,
500 Ala Moana, No. 7-210, Honolulu 96813.
Or send e-mail to bshimabukuro@starbulletin.com

Asterisk (*) after nutritional analyses in the Body & Soul section indicates calculations by Joannie Dobbs of Exploring New Concepts, a nutritional consulting firm.