Cold Spicy Watermelon Noodles (gluten free, vegan, oil free, nut free)

Cold Spicy Watermelon Noodles

(gluten free, vegan, oil free, nut free)

Okay stop, don't judge this until you've tried it! I thought this was crazy when I first heard of it as well. But this is an actual dish! It's based in the Korean cuisine and is a typical summer dish people love to eat on a hot day. And you know what? It's my favorite ever since I've first made it.

I am not a huge fan of noodles, as they tend to be really heavy on my stomach, but cold noodles, especially with this refreshing combination of flavors, is a staple in my kitchen now! And the best thing: It will keep you satisfied, refreshed and cool on a burning hot day. And it will keep your kitchen cold, because you can simply prep the noodles before and you don't have to cook anything anymore.

Yes, some the ingredients are hard to find, especially when there is no asian supermarket close by, so I created a second version of the sauce (which is actually the most important thing here! You don't have to serve this in a watermelon, but it looks kind of cool, right?), that uses more accessible ingredients.

So back to the basics, what is this dish even about?
Well, the original, Korean name is Soobak Naengmyun (수박냉면), which means basically just Cold Noodles in a Watermelon. And that's just what it is. As mentioned above, the sauce is what makes this dish special. 

I'll put both the original (veganised) version and the version with the more accessible ingredients in a different post, which is linked here !! You can use this sauce as a salad dressing as well! It's really variable. 

So now, lets get into assembling (because, remember, you don't have to cook!)

Cold Spicy Watermelon Noodles

Serves: 1
Preparation time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

• as much cooked pasta as you feel like eating 
• half a watermelon
• as much of the sauce as you feel like eating (again, the recipe for the sauce is linked here)
• cucumber
• cabbage
• optional: carrots, tomatoes

Instructions

• take your watermelon and (if not already done) scoop a hole in the middle where you can put your noodles (make sure your melon can stand - if not, cut a little bit off the bottom, so it can but the juice can't run out)
• pour a little bit of the sauce on the bottom of your hole
• add your noodles
• slice your cabbage, cucumber, carrots and tomatoes and add them on top nicely
• pour some more sauce on top and dig in!

Tip: Add more sauce, cucumber and cabbage as you go! And don't forget to eat the watermelon as well (not only the noodles)