Jjolmyeon

Jjolmyeon (Korean: 쫄면) is either a type of Korean noodle with a very chewy texture made from wheat flour and starch, or a cold and spicy dish bibim-jjolmyeon (비빔쫄면) made with the noodles and vegetables.^[1] Jjolmyeon can add many vegetables such as cabbage and bean sprouts. The spicy and hot sauce is a combination of gochujang (chili pepper paste), vinegar, sugar, and minced garlic. It is also a type of bibim guksu (mixed noodles).

Jjolmyeon

A bowl of boiled jjolmyeon
Type	Korean noodles
Place of origin	Korea
Region or state	Incheon
Main ingredients	Noodles (wheat flour, corn starch), sauce (gochujang, vinegar, sugar (optional), garlic), vegetables
Korean name
Hangul	쫄면
Hanja	쫄麵
RR	jjolmyeon
MR	tcholmyŏn
Media: Jjolmyeon

A bowl of bibim-jjolmyeon (mixed chewy noodles)

The chewy texture of jjolmyeon noodles owes to its manufacturing process in which the dough is heated to 130-150 degrees Celsius and extruded by a machine under high pressure, in a manner similar to rice cake production.^[2]

Etymology

The first syllable of the name comes from the sound symbolism jjolgit-jjolgit (쫄깃쫄깃) in Korean, which means "chewy", while myeon is a Hanja word meaning "noodles". Thus, the name literally means "chewy noodles".^[3]

History

Jjolmyeon is one of the most popular noodle dishes in South Korea, especially among young people at bunsikjeom (Korean snack restaurants).^[4] It is a representative dish of Incheon, where jjolmyeon originated in the early 1970s by a mistake made while making naengmyeon. Noodles larger than regular naengmyeon noodles were made at a factory and instead of being thrown out, were given away to a nearby bunsikjeom. The owner mixed the noodles with gochujang sauce and jjolmyeon was born.^[5][6]

See also

• Korean noodles