Tadpole Noodles (올챙이국수)
- beautifulhaneul
- Nov 27, 2018
- 3 min read
안녕하세요
Tadpole noodles (올챙이국수) Ohchaengyi guksu originated from the Gangwon-do. Gangwon-do (강원도) is the province at the north-eastern end of Korea, where the recent winter Olympics was held. It is a mountainous region that has harsh winter seasons. In the olden days in Korea, being a region that is mountainous, the region produces excellent buckwheat, corn and potato. They are the staple food of the region. Back in the days where commoners could not afford rice and meat on a daily basis, Gangwon-do folks relied heavily on these 3 main source of energy.
Gangwon-do people has since developed many cuisine around these 3 main ingredients. One of them is the tadpole noodles. The method of cooking was described in my other article, but for your convenience purposes I will reiterate. For those who had already read, please skip to the next paragraph.
"Out of the many famous food in Gangwon-do is the tadpole noodles (올챙이국수). Being a mountainous region that has harsh winters, Gangwon-do produces high quality potato, buckwheat & corn. This ohchaengyi (올챙이국수) is made first, by cooking and mashing the corn till it has a thick and slurry consistency. After which, the slurry corn is being sieved directly into water (not to remove the impurities but rather to attain the tadpole shape). Think of cendol".
* Cendol is a popular dessert in south-east Asia made using similar method but instead of corn, we use rice).
T
he video below shows the process of making the tadpole noodles.
*All rights goes to the owner of the video (EBS)
Hot corn slurry meets cold water. Baam! Tadpole noodles are born. For those of you who lives in south-east Asia, you might be familiar with the long lost family of the tadpole noodles, the mee tai mak which is also known as mouse powder, rat noodles (resemble rat's tail) and silver needle noodles Depending on where you live in. The tadpole noodles and rat's tail noodles are similar in many aspect such as the making process, shape and texture of the noodles.
Do they not look alike? At least I think so. Due to the evolution of the tadpole noodles, some people in Korea has developed making tadpole noodles in the shape of the knife cut wheat noodles (갈국수 kal guksu) much akin to the dao xiao mian of China 刀削面. My personal preference is the original version of the tadpole noodles. What is yours? For comparison purposes, I posted pictures of both version below.
There are many ways to enjoy tadpole noodles, the most common way includes eating them in chilli soya sauce condiment and/or with kimchi, sesame oil, kim (김 seaweed). Many other seasonings are viable too. During a recent trip to Gangwon-do to visit some relatives, my wife ate tadpole noodles with Jeon (전 Korean pancake) as the side dish, pairing both of them up. Add some water to the noodles, choose your seasoning, mix all of them up and enjoy. Nothing too fanciful about it, just good old simple and down to earth food. Some call it well-being food (웰빙음식), the food for the body and mind haha. I suppose this is especially so for the locals that grew up with this taste.
What is your favourite food in Gangwon-do? Chuncheon Dakgalbi (춘천 닭갈비 chicken ribs cooked in spicy marinade served a la table in a pan)? Too much food too little time :). Leave a comment and tell me what's your favourite in Gangwon-do.
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