To each their own comfort: Chewy noodle soup with Korean chili pepper sauce

When my grandmother died in July, we were in the heart of upstate New York’s sticky sweet summer heat. But when I am aching and sad and lost and empty, there’s a cold ball in the bottom of my belly that wants warming. And this takes hot noodle soup, not sunshine.

Warm bowls of Asian noodles are my comfort food. I like every kind of noodle: soba, saifun, somen, ramen, udon, rice sticks, strings of sweet potato starch, and on and on. But as a general rule, the chewier the noodle, the deeper the solace.

So this summer, as I said goodbye to Baba and plunged into all the family muck that often surrounds life’s big moments, I cooked bowl after bowl of Korean chewy noodles. I’m not sure of the Korean name for these noodles. I will have to ask Mrs. Kim next time I am in her shop. But here is a picture of the package. On the back it says “rice chewy noodles,” and they come with a packet of chili-pepper sauce.

I have no idea how you are suppose to cook them, I couldn’t read the directions and the pictures were confusing.

But I wanted slurpy soup. So I muddled my way through.

I cooked the tofu and veggies in a small pot with an all purpose Asian soup base. This stuff is a concentrate; just add a little to water to make the soup.

In a big pot, I added the noodles to lightly salted boiling water and cooked them until they were soft, but still very chewy with no hint of mush. Then I drained and rinsed them. I put a pile of noodles in the bottom of everyone’s bowl (my kids love this soup), and then added the broth and little piles of the tofu, greens and other goodies. One of the best additions I found was little slices of leftover sweet potato. (I didn’t add the slices to the cooking broth. I just put them on top at the end.) Then drizzle the whole thing with the chili-pepper paste to taste.
Not your normal summer fare, but, hey, we are starting to flirt with frost at night, so I thought it was time to put these pictures up.