Long days of travelling and the scorching summer heat can make anyone lose their appetite. In the summer of 2018, my sister and I visited out home country of South Korea for the first time in what felt like forever. The day prior to our flight, I had returned home from a trip to Mexico. Thus, including my flight to Korea, this totaled three travel days in a row. My exhaustion was met with the heat of Korea’s sun beating down on me. As a few days passed and my sister and I were adjusting to the time difference, I soon came to realize that travelling from country to country wore my body and appetite down. I would learn on this trip that balance is the key to an appetizing meal.

My mother used to tell me that I should always keep my stomach warm. This meant that I should not eat copious amounts of ice cream, or steaming hot soup before cooling it. This notion that my stomach likes warm foods over cold foods is why I was surprised at my liking of Memil Guksu, sometimes wrongly called Memil Soba. Memil is a Korean word for buckwheat and Soba is the Japanese translation of the same. Guksu is the Korean word for noodles. Therefore, calling the dish Memil Soba is redundant, but still widely used.

Memil noodles were one of the main dishes I remember from that trip. This dish is usually eaten during the summer as it is known to be a cooling food. This cold noodle dish with chunks of ice floating in the broth is not what I expected to revitalize my appetite. For the first time on that trip, I had seconds and I ate until I felt full. Balance is always important in meals, and to balance out the cold noodles, my uncle ordered plates of dumplings. The balance of hot versus cold and carbs versus protein rounds out the meal. I had seconds and thirds.

Memil Guksu originated from Japan, although the appearance of the dish changed within Korea to what is now thought of as the modern Memil dish in its circular form. In the 17th century, during the Edo Period, a monk from the Joseon Dynasty was said to have taught people how to make noodles by mixing regular flour with buckwheat flour. The importance of this mixture is that buckwheat is less gluttonous than regular flour and therefore no matter the amount of kneading, the dough will not be as elastic.

Noodles aside, there are some key differences between Japanese Memil and Korean Memil. The broth of Korean Memil is more diluted than the Japanese Memil. As a result, our family puts a lot of broth into our dish as opposed to Japanese style Memil, which merely coexist with the broth. The style of laying out the cooked noodles outside of the broth until right before consumption is similar in both styles. The small portion of noodles makes it less overbearing, which may have been what fueled my appetite – the mere small portion makes it seem as though I can eat as little or as much as I want without any pressure.

The Memil noodles were the star of the show. However, the dumplings with the noodles is what made this meal perfect for me. The almost frozen broth of the noodle soup with the piping hot dumplings neutralized the temperatures. Looking back now, the two extreme temperatures together probably made the pairing the most ideal for my digestion. I would first eat the noodles then quickly after, follow with a bite of the delicious dumplings. Balance in temperature was not the only factor that played into the complementation. The noodle broth had a tangy flavor, which then paired so beautifully with the dumpling’s savory pork. Not only did the flavors contrast, the textures did as well. The noodles are less chewy than other noodle dishes and are easy to eat. The dumplings contradict the texture because the meat and filling inside give the meal some substance.

Ever since that trip in 2018, during every visit to our nearest Korean supermarket, my mother will make sure we have frozen dumplings and Memil noodles and the ingredients needed, which is why my family has been able to make this dish several times, even in the midst of a global pandemic. My mother’s word usually holds true, and her constant advice of keeping my stomach warm, as to help with digestion, stands with this dish. It is now a comfort food that I look to when I cannot think of what I want to eat. Balance is always important, even in daily aspects such as food.