Naengmyeon – literally meaning “cold noodle” – is a North Korean noodle dish consisting of long, thin noodles made from the flour and starch of various ingredients, including most commonly buckwheat, but also potatoes, sweet potatoes, arrowroot.
Naengmyeon is served cold in a large brass or stainless-steel bowl with a slushy broth, often with bits and pieces of ice, julienned cucumbers, slices of Korean pear, thin, wide strips of lightly pickled radish, and either a boiled egg or slices of cold boiled beef or both. Spicy mustard sauce and vinegar are often added before consumption. Traditionally, the long noodles would be eaten without cutting, as they symbolized longevity of life and good health.
Despite it being a rather simple dish, Naengmyeon is usually quite expensive because of the hours spent stewing bones, etc for the broth.