In Summer, It's Naengmyeon
In Summer, It's Naengmyeon
What food comes to mind when you think of summer?
I sat there thinking about it.
First to pop up: desserts. Ice cream, patbingsu — the classics.
'That brain-freeze agony you get from shoveling in a huge spoonful of patbingsu — honestly, that's part of the appeal.'
It's a flavor you can only really experience in summer.
After that came the stamina foods: samgyetang, haeshintang, eel over rice — the whole restorative lineup.
Stuffing yourself full in that sweltering heat always got your strength back up somehow.
But.
'I already did the whole Coco-boosting thing not long ago. Whole Coco dinner set and everything. Do I really need that again?'
This wasn't the moment for fighting fire with fire and chasing down something steaming hot.
Cold seaweed soup. Makguksu. Hwachae. Chogye-guksu. Tanuki udon. Parfaits...
I wanted something cold.
'Hmmmm.'
And then one dish just surfaced.
'How did I forget about this?'
Naengmyeon.
Ice cubes bobbing in chilled meat broth, chewy noodles made from buckwheat and wheat flour, topped with sliced meat and pickled radish — cold, refreshing naengmyeon.
The definitive summer food.
There are records from the Joseon dynasty of kings ordering it delivered, for crying out loud.
"Got plenty of wheat flour, and there's starch flour and buckwheat too."
I looked around the kitchen.
There was a pot full of meat broth I'd made from simmering beef brisket.
Leftover from when I'd slow-cooked that brisket for Bldi's seonji haejangguk, the kind loaded with tender boiled brisket.
I'd been saving the leftover broth since it's great for adding depth to soup dishes.
"Hm..."
This could work.
While I mixed the wheat and buckwheat flours for the dough, I figured I could toss some green onions and radish into the broth to boost the savoriness a bit more.
'Eh, it's a pain. Should I just throw in a little more MSG and call it a day?'
The finished meat broth would be fine with some vinegar, salt, sugar, a pinch of MSG, and water mixed in. Simple enough.
It was too hot to get ambitious with some complicated new dish.
"Let's just half-ass it."
I hauled myself upright.
"Ughhhh."
"Oh? Boss, what are you up to?"
"Making you guys lunch."
Andrea's eyes lit up.
"Then I'll help!"
"Don't you need to supervise the other knights' training?"
"It's fine. That black-haired Ivan guy's handling it."
Ivan narrowed his eyes.
"Why do I have to—"
"You're doing it. Got it?"
Andrea said it with her back to me, staring Ivan down, and he took a step back.
What the hell's gotten into him?
At Andrea's smiling words, Ivan nodded.
"Fine."
"Mon...ster..."
Bldi, who'd been nodding off next to Andrea, shuddered.
"Bldi, aren't you going to bed? It's way past your bedtime."
"I'm fine. Lately I can move around in the daytime without getting as tired as before."
"Even vampires struggle when their days and nights flip. Don't push yourself—"
"I-I can help you too, Master."
I stroked Bldi's hair.
"Today, go in and sleep. You're way past your bedtime already. You were dozing off just standing there a minute ago."
"B-but..."
Bldi's eyes darted between me and Andrea, her feet shuffling in place.
"You were lying down half-asleep just now. Go on, get to bed."
"Ugh, but I'm fine..."
"I'm not fine. I can't have someone nodding off in a kitchen full of knives and fire."
"...Okay."
Bldi finally backed down.
She'd been drifting off with her eyes half-closed even then.
If you didn't know she was a vampire, you'd just see an immature 18-year-old girl.
"Th-then I'll head off first."
"Sleep well. See you tomorrow."
"Okaaay."
Fwoosh!
Bldi transformed into a bat and fluttered off.
"So, what should I do?"
"First, boil these Coco eggs and make the broth the way I tell you. As cold as you can get it."
"Hm, what if we cooked together? I could knead the dough next to you, and you could teach me step by step..."
"Do what you're told."
"Hng, fine."
Andrea mixed the naengmyeon broth, swirling her fingers through it.
Ice crystallized in the air.
Just like mages freeze things with mana, she was using spirits to infuse the broth with cold.
'Elves. They really are useful.'
While she did that, I fetched the wheat flour, buckwheat flour, and starch flour from the storeroom.
No need to use much buckwheat.
Mostly wheat and starch flour. The buckwheat ratio wasn't high.
Higher buckwheat content changes the texture, and personally, I preferred chewiness over that distinctive buckwheat nuttiness.
Too much buckwheat makes the noodles snap mid-bite.
Dishes like makguksu or buckwheat soba have high buckwheat content, so they lack that strong elasticity.
Raise the wheat and starch ratio, and you get that famously chewy Hamheung-style naengmyeon noodle — exactly my preference.
'Pyongyang-style is just too bland for me.'
I've heard some people love that taste, but it lacked the intensity to make me forget this heat.
So, rather than makguksu or Pyongyang-style, the plan was Hamheung-style naengmyeon with its more aggressively seasoned punch.
That sharp, tangy bite cutting through the meat broth.
The kind of naengmyeon where you can add seasoning paste to dial up the spice to your liking.
Bibim-naengmyeon with its fiery red sauce, mul-naengmyeon swimming in chilled broth, and hoe-naengmyeon mixed with aged raw fish.
Today's menu was Hamheung-style, which could be served all three ways.
I added the right amount of buckwheat flour to the wheat and starch flours.
I poured the flours onto a tray, mixed them lightly, then added water.
'Naengmyeon dough needs high heat and pressure during kneading, kind of like making garaetteok.'
I'd learned that from making garaetteok by hand last time.
The stronger the pressure, the chewier and more elastic the result.
So what could I use to generate that pressure?
The easiest option: a machine.
Back in the modern world, you'd just toss the flour and water into a kneading machine and it'd handle everything.
'No such thing here.'
So.
I had to do it all by hand.
Yep.
By hand.
"Hoo."
I pulled on gloves, closed my eyes, and focused.
Just like channeling mana into a blade to form an aura, I channeled it into my hands.
Squeeze.
I mixed the dough with mana-infused hands.
As fast and as hard as I could.
Water and flour combined into a proper elastic mass, and I grabbed it and pressed it together.
I spun the mana in both hands rapidly. Using the rotational force of the circulating mana, I raised the pressure and temperature beneath my palms.
Vmmmm.
A low vibration hummed from my hands, almost like a motor running.
I compressed and kneaded the dough.
I had to control the force just right — not too much pressure, not too much heat.
"Hooo."
Sweat beaded on my forehead from the concentration.
Maintaining this exact level of force was crucial.
With every press, squeeze, and knead, I could feel the elasticity building.
'It's working.'
Completely different sensation from ordinary wheat dough.
The gluten activated properly, and I felt that satisfying resistance in my hands.
A tightly bound dough.
I finished kneading once I felt that slight pushback when I squeezed it.
"Done."
Now I just needed to press this dough through something to extrude the noodles.
No extruder around, so that left one option.
"Guess there's really no other way."
I picked up a mesh strainer.
It was made of fine wire, but if I wrapped aura between the wires — just like coating a blade — it ought to hold up under reasonable pressure.
Worked in theory.
'First time trying it for real, though.'
I held the strainer in one hand and set the dough on top of it.
And then.
"Hup!"
I drove all my strength into one push, forcing the dough through the strainer.
Ssssshk!
Under the intense pressure, the dough streamed through the strainer's holes.
"Got it!"
Seeing the noodles cascade into the boiling water, I let out a triumphant shout.
I wiped the sweat streaming down my forehead and exhaled.
'Gotta ask Blackbeard to make me a noodle extruder later.'
Doing this by hand was way too much work.
What kind of torture was this, just to eat something cold in summer?
"Wh-what is this?"
Andrea had watched the entire kneading process, and now she stared at me with stunned eyes.
"The price of chewy noodles."
"Wh-what on earth... channeling mana into your hands to spin aura, and then layering aura onto a cooking tool like a wire strainer... I knew your skills were extraordinary, Boss, but this is on another level."
"You could do it too. First you just need to understand mana flow—"
"N-no, I'm fine! More importantly, look at this!"
Andrea pointed at the naengmyeon broth.
A thin skin of ice had formed on its surface — it looked cold just to see it.
"I made this. Good, right?"
I broke through the ice with a ladle, scooped a little, and tasted it.
It was so cold my head almost went numb.
A deep, savory meat richness mingled with that salty, tangy, faintly sweet flavor, all held suspended in my mouth.
The boldness of the broth drew an involuntary sound of admiration.
"Incredible. Seriously, well done."
I gave her a thumbs-up.
"Now I think I'm ready to cook."
"Right next to you, Boss?"
"Yeah."
"Hm-hm, s-so, working just the two of us in the kitchen instead of the dining hall is also fine—"
"You're an elf. You work the front of house."
"Ugh."
"A beautiful elf brings in customers."
"You think I'm pretty?"
"Obviously."
"Beautiful elf, beautiful elf... w-well, if you put it that way... heh heh heh."
Andrea's shoulders bounced as the corners of her mouth crept up.
"Got it!"
I rinsed the well-boiled noodles in cold water — swish, swish, swish.
"Get all the starch off."
"Yes, understood!"
While Andrea washed the noodles, I made the bibim-naengmyeon sauce too.
A special blend of chili powder, assorted fruits, water, sugar, sesame seeds, garlic, and more, all mixed together.
I used it often — works for bibim-guksu and makguksu alike.
Finally, I topped it with thinly sliced brisket and quick-pickled radish, then poured the ice-filmed broth over it all.
I'd made the bibim sauce, yet only served mul-naengmyeon. The reason was simple.
'Knowing their appetites, they're definitely going to want a second bowl.'
Better to be ready for that.
"All done. Call the knights."
"Ugh... fine."
She lingered in the kitchen a moment, as if reluctant to leave, then finally went and called the knights in from training.
"Whoa! What's this?"
"Ah, this is called naengmyeon."
"Naengmyeon?"
"A cold summer dish. You eat noodles in chilled, icy meat broth. Go on, try it."
"Cold noodle dish... how novel."
Even though none of them had ever seen it before, they grabbed their bowls without hesitation.
After sweating through training in this heat, they were ready to devour anything cold.
The expressions on the knights' faces brightened as they drank the broth — Heimer first among them.
"Khhh! So cold!"
"Agh! Brain freeze..."
"Wow, this is seriously refreshing!"
Watching the knights clutch their heads made me feel cooler just watching them.
Yeah. That's the reaction I wanted.
"Andrea chilled the broth using her spirits."
"Ahem!"
"As expected..."
Respectful gazes turned toward Andrea.
Even Ivan was looking at her with something like surprise.
I savored their reactions and drank my cold naengmyeon broth.
"Hoo-ha!"
The naengmyeon was cold enough to chill my insides, washing away the heat that had been caked all over my body.
The rich umami of the broth — made from brisket I'd simmered myself, blended with MSG and seasonings — lingered thick on my tongue.
"Killer."
I gathered some meat and naengmyeon together and ate them in one bite.
Slurrrrp!
The chewy, springy naengmyeon, the beef brisket that gave just enough resistance, and the crunch of the pickled radish.
"Mmmm~!"
The taste of summer back home.
I sighed in satisfaction before I even realized it.
A violent coolness filled my body, strong enough to blast away the fire spirit's mischief in one go.
I was just sitting there with a mouthful of naengmyeon when it happened.
Click.
The door opened.
"Hello. I'm back again."
Michelle, with her blue hair, had arrived.