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Dish guide · Noodles and dumplings

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Hamheung naengmyeon

함흥냉면

Hamheung-style chewy cold noodles

🧊 Served cold🌶🌶 Spicy🥬 Not vegetarian

Thin, very chewy noodles made from potato or sweet potato starch, usually tossed in a spicy red pepper sauce. Hoe-naengmyeon comes topped with seasoned raw fish.

What it is

  • The noodles are made from potato or sweet potato starch, which makes them much chewier than buckwheat noodles.
  • Most people order it as bibim-naengmyeon, mixed with a spicy red pepper sauce, or as hoe-naengmyeon, topped with seasoned raw fish. In Seoul the fish is usually skate.

How to eat it

  1. 1Mix everything well before you start so the sauce coats all the noodles.
  2. 2Add vinegar, mustard or sugar from the table to taste.
  3. 3Many restaurants serve warm beef broth alongside. Sip it between bites of the cold, spicy noodles.

History

  • It is named after Hamheung, a city in the north of the peninsula where potatoes and sweet potatoes were staple crops.
  • The style known today took shape in the South, made by people from Hamheung who settled there during and after the Korean War. Ojang-dong in central Seoul, where such restaurants opened in the 1950s, is still known for it.
  • Sources disagree on which raw fish was used originally in the North.

Allergies and diet

Usually contains

fishsoysesameegg
  • Hoe-naengmyeon contains raw fish. Other versions often come with beef or beef broth.
  • The spicy sauce can contain wheat and soy.

Recipes differ between restaurants. If you have an allergy, always ask the staff before you order.

🗣️ Allergy card for the staff

Pick your allergy to see the sentence in Korean.

📍 Where to try it

Sources

We check every fact against at least two sources and write it in our own words. Last checked: 2026-10-26.