Summer is here, and it is hot! As mentioned in our previous Crave Alert report, naengmyeon is a great option to cool down this season. But for those of you who need some variety in your eating regimen, we have a solution for you.

Dongchimi guksu is a cold noodle dish that is like a distant cousin of naengmyeon. The main contributor to the dish is dongchimi, a type of water-based kimchi made out of white radish that is unspiced (meaning no red pepper). If you haven’t figured it out already, the dongchimi brine becomes a chilled and refreshing soup for this dish. Unlike naengmyun and its buckwheat noodles, dongchimi guksu uses somen noodles, making it easier to slurp up everything with your delicious soup.

Gilmok (a.k.a The Corner Place) in L.A.’s Koreatown distinguishes itself from all of the other Korean BBQ places by having their own special rendition of this dish. Though simply garnished with cucumbers, green onions, and one tomato slice, Gilmok’s dongchimi guksu is undeniably one of the best. The star of the Gilmok’s version has to be the soup. In fact, the recipe for the soup is so highly guarded, you can’t even do take-out for it because the owners are afraid that someone will figure out their secret ingredient! But…word on the street is that their secret ingredient is 7-up. (Shh…you didn’t hear it from us.)

Gilmok (The Corner Place)
2819 James M. Wood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90006
(213) 487-0968
http://www.cornerplacerestaurant.com/

Hey OC, Gil Mok boasts another location in Cerritos, CA. Don’t you feel lucky?

Gilmok (The Corner Place)
19100 Gridley Rd., Cerritos, CA 90703
(562) 402-8578

For those of you not in the area, we found a recipe (with pictures!) on how to make your own dongchimi kimchi. The recipe says that the dongchimi will take 21 days to ferment, but the brine should be good after 5-6 days. Of course, the longer you wait, the better it will taste. And remember, like with other kimchis, dongchimi can last for months so long as it stays refrigerated.

Use the brine from the recipe for your soup, add some somen noodles, and you’ve got your very own dongchimi guksu!

[Photos: Melissah Yang]

This is an unofficial review of Gilmok, a restaurant in Los Angeles, which is known as The Corner Place.  I went on vacation last week out west.  I arrived late into Los Angeles and once I got off the plane, my friend drove me directly to Koreatown since I was a bit hungry after a long east to west coast flight.  Since it was a bit late, he decided to take me to Gilmok, which appeared to be another Koreatown restaurant that didn’t look to remarkable.  We walked into the smoky restaurant which of course was a byproduct of kalbi grilling.  But that’s not what caught my attention.

After we ordered and chatted, a big bowl of noodles arrived and it was poured into smaller bowls.  I didn’t think to much of it because I was really hungry for the kalbi.  My friend suggested that I start eating the Dongchimi Guksu (noodles in a cold, pickled radish base soup) because the kalbi was just put onto the grill.  So I naturally picked up my chopsticks and scooped up some noodles.  I knew right away that the noodles were pure ecstasy.  It was simply AWESOME!  The first thing I said to my friend was, “These are amazing!  Better than any kind of Guksu in New York.”  Then I proceeded to say, “How come you’ve never brought me to this place because I’ve come out to LA so many times.”  His response was simply, “You always want In & Out.”  Doh!  C’mon man!

Let me repeat that these noodles were better than anything that I’ve tasted on the east coast.  They were so simple yet so savory and I asked my friend what made it so amazing.  Rumor has it is that there’s a little bit of Sprite poured in.  Just a rumor but hard to tell if there’s really a hint of Sprite.  Who cares because it was outstanding!  If you’re in Koreatown in Los Angeles, go check out Gilmok and order the noodles and kalbi.  You will not be disappointed!  Gilmok is located at 2819 James M Wood Blvd, Los Angeles.