It is still hot these days, but did you notice that some trees are already starting to change colors and some nights are cooler? I can feel that before long, we will see the beautiful fall season. When I think of cold weather, I can easily think of warm noodle soup. So, today I want to show you how to make a kind of Korean homemade noodle called KalGukSu. Kal means knife and guksu means noodles. You knead the dough, roll it out, and then cut it into thin noodle strips with your knife. That’s where the name came from. If you buy this type of noodle in a Korean grocery store, it is about 6 dollars a pack for 4-5 servings. When I consider the price of the main ingredient, flour, we can save good money by making it at home. Plus, it can be healthier too. For this recipe, I will just share the noodle recipe, but later, I will also share a delicious kimchi kalgusu recipe using these noodles. Stay tuned for it. Aha, one more thing if you are seafood lover like me, you can check my clam kalguksu recipe that I already posted long time ago. I hope you enjoy my recipe. 🙂
Yield: 24 oz
Short Korean Lesson
- kal (칼) = Knife
- YangSim (양심) = Conscience
Video Instructions
Main Ingredients:
- 2½ Cups of All Purpose Flour
- 1 Cup Water
- 2 Tbsp Cooking Oil (Canola Oil)
- 1 tsp Salt
Directions
Add 2¼ cups of all-purpose flour and ¾ tsp of salt in a large mixing bowl. Mix it a little.
Then add 2 Tbsp of cooking oil (canola oil) and 1 cup of water to the flour. At first, mix it roughly with a fork until the water gets mixed into the flour.Once all the liquid is gone, start to knead the dough with your hands. This is how I do it. Sprinkle some flour on a rolling mat or cutting board. Take out the dough from the mixing bowl and put it on the mat. Knead the dough as if you are washing your clothes by hands. I used different technics to knead the dough, so please check the video instruction for it. Whatever you do, it is important to knead the dough enough to get a nice elastic texture from it.
If your dough sticks to your hands, you can always sprinkle some flour on the dough, mat, and your hands to help with that. If you have a bread machine or mixer, you can use them for kneading the dough. I knead this dough by hand for about 15 minutes.
Once it gets a nice soft surface and elastic texture, it is done. Form the dough into a round shape and cover it with some plastic wrap. Keep it in the refrigerator for several hours, or even overnight. This chilling process helps give the noodles a nice texture when they are cooked later.
After few hours, divide the dough in half and form each half into a ball.
Sprinkle some flour on the rolling mat and start to roll a piece of the dough.
You need about 16 x 12 inch a thin oval or rectangle shape rolled up dough.
Now, we will cut it. To cut the noodles into thin and regular sized strips, I will tell you a tip that Korean moms always use to make homemade kalgusu noodles. Sprinkle a generous amount of flour on the surface of the rolled dough. This flour will prevent the pieces from sticking to each other when you are cutting.
Start folding it over, about 1½ inch at a time, to form a flattened roll shape.
Then, cut the rolled up dough into thin strips. Now, it’s magic time. Gently shake the noodles apart. If you didn’t put enough flour on the dough earlier, you will have problem getting them apart in this step.
Use the same process for the other dough ball. You will get about 1.5 lbs of noodles total. As you see, we added quite a good amount of flour here and there, which means that your broth will become starchy when you boil the noodles. In the end, it can become too thick when you make the soup. So, I recommend that you boil the noodles separately for few minutes, drain out the water, and use the cooked noodles for your soup.
That is it. The ingredients are very simple and the way to make these noodles is kind of fun and interesting, don’t you think so? So, now you can enjoy your delicious kalguksu noodles using homemade noodles at home. If you liked this homemade noodle video, and want me show you how to make kimchi kalguksu noodles using these, please give me a thumbs up and subscribe to my channel.
I’ve always wanted to learn how to make homemade noodles. I always blast pandora music when I’m cooking and just appreciate the time I have to myself. Thank your for sharing your recipe and teaching me some Korean.
hi Dennis,
Nice to meet you, Dennis. Yes, now you can make good homemade noodles for kalguksu at home. 🙂 thanks