Cold and Spicy Noodles

Original recipe by: Leslie Brenner

This refreshing dish – a noodle bowl and salad in one, inspired by Korean flavors and using Korean somyeon noodles or Japanese soba (or somen) noodles – is infinitely customizable. Make the eggs hard-boiled, as suggested, or soft-boiled – that's great, too. Or use Japanese marinated ajitama eggs (also known as ramen eggs, which you’ll find here).

When you make the dressing, it may seem like too much, but I found that it's just the right amount to serve two. If one of you wants it very spicy and the other not so much, no worries – you can add a big pinch of Korean chile flakes to make one hotter. Want to make the dish vegetarian? Leave out the kimchi and fish sauce; use a little more soy sauce and spoonful of Korean chile paste instead. (You could also use a vegetarian kimchi and sub soy sauce for the fish sauce.) Leave off the egg as well, and it's vegan. Contrarily, you could add sliced…