Silbi Kimchi Fish Cake Stir-Fry and Somen Noodles [Recipe]

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Hello! Have you ever bought some silbi kimchi (very spicy Korean kimchi) to eat alongside boiled pork or bossam, only to end up with an awkward amount left over? This recipe is for exactly that: a silbi kimchi fish cake stir-fry, plus a simple noodle dish that uses the stir-fry as a topping. You might think, “Isn’t that just regular kimchi and fish cake stir-fry?” The flavor is quite different, though, and the fiery heat is what makes it so appealing. It’s spicy, yet you keep reaching for another bite, simple but satisfying. Shall we take a look at the recipe?

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📋 At a Glance

• Dish: Silbi kimchi fish cake stir-fry + silbi kimchi fish cake noodles
• Category: banchan (Korean side dish) for the stir-fry, plus somen noodles in anchovy broth
• Servings: 2 servings of noodles
• Stir-fry ingredients: 6 square fish cake sheets, 1 onion, 1½ bowls of silbi kimchi (300 g)
• Stir-fry seasoning: 1 tbsp minced garlic, 3 tbsp sugar, 3–4 tbsp dark soy sauce, 2 tbsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp chili powder, 2 tbsp cooking oil (2 Cheongyang chilies are optional)
• Noodle ingredients: somen for 2 servings (as much as you like to eat), 800 ml water, 120–150 ml anchovy broth, 2–3 eggs, a pinch of pepper, a little cooking oil
• Tools: a frying pan, a generous noodle bowl
• Time: 10 minutes prep + 20 minutes cooking
• Difficulty: On the easy side: a simple but reliable dish, and the prep is quickly done
• Storage: let the leftover stir-fry cool slightly, then refrigerate it in a side-dish container; it keeps three to four days
• Key points: add the sesame oil after turning off the heat, and adjust the dark soy sauce within 3–4 tbsp to match how salty your silbi kimchi is

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Silbi Kimchi Fish Cake Stir-Fry Ingredients

This recipe assumes the silbi kimchi is a little salty and very spicy. So nothing especially unusual goes in. For the fish cake, use 6 square fish cake sheets in whatever style you like, or a similar amount of another fish cake.

[Silbi Kimchi Fish Cake Stir-Fry Ingredients]

• 6 square fish cake sheets
• 1 onion
• 1½ bowls of silbi kimchi (300 g)
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 3–4 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 2 Cheongyang chilies (optional)
• 2 tbsp cooking oil

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[Noodle Ingredients for 2 Servings]

• Somen for 2 servings (as much as you like to eat)
• 800 ml water
• 120–150 ml anchovy broth
• 2–3 eggs
• A pinch of pepper
• A little cooking oil

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[Stir-Fry Recipe Summary]

1. Slice the onion thinly and cut the Cheongyang chilies on the diagonal.
2. Cut the 6 square fish cake sheets into bite-size pieces, and cut the silbi kimchi to a suitable size too.
3. Add 2 tbsp cooking oil to a frying pan and warm it slightly over medium heat.
4. Add the onion, fish cake, silbi kimchi, 1 tbsp minced garlic, Cheongyang chilies and 3 tbsp sugar, and stir-fry well.
5. When the ingredients are somewhat cooked, add 3–4 tbsp dark soy sauce and, as needed, 1 tbsp chili powder, and stir-fry a little longer.
6. With the heat off, drizzle in 2 tbsp sesame oil and mix well to finish.

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[Noodle Recipe Summary]

1. Boil the somen ahead of time and rinse it once in cold water.
2. Prepare the broth ahead by adding 120–150 ml anchovy broth and a pinch of pepper to 800 ml water.
3. Add oil to a frying pan, cook a thin egg sheet, and cut it into thin strips.
4. Bring the prepared broth to a boil once.
5. Put the somen in a generous noodle bowl and pour in the broth. Top with egg strips and as much of the silbi kimchi fish cake stir-fry as you like, then mix well and enjoy.

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🌶️ You can use regular kimchi instead of silbi kimchi, but for the full spicy flavor, silbi kimchi is the one I recommend. Adding Cheongyang chili makes the heat really come alive.

🍜 The broth amount is generous, so prepare the somen to match how much you plan to eat. For one serving, 400–500 ml of water with 60–75 ml of anchovy broth is enough.

🥄 Always add the sesame oil after turning off the heat. In a hot pan, the nutty aroma fades away.

🍝 Swap the somen for udon noodles with katsuo broth (tsuyu) and you get kimchi fish cake udon. Mixing in boiled pasta works well too.

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⏱️ Prep time: 10 minutes

⏱️ Cooking time: 20 minutes

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A quick note: I’m planning to use silbi kimchi that is already cut, and the Cheongyang chilies I used were frozen and pre-sliced, so keep that in mind for the prep.

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Prepping the Ingredients

On to the prep. First, I thinly sliced the onion. As mentioned, I’m using silbi kimchi and Cheongyang chilies that are already cut. If you bought a whole piece of silbi kimchi, cut it to a suitable size, and slice the Cheongyang chilies too.

Cut the 6 square fish cake sheets to a suitable size as well. If you’re eating it purely as a side dish, slightly smaller pieces are fine. Since I’m topping noodles with it, I cut them into slightly long strips. Pieces that are too thin break easily when stir-fried, so a slightly thick cut works better.

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And that’s the prep, done this simply. You don’t even need to put the ingredients in separate dishes; you can add everything at once. If you slice the fish cake last, there’s hardly any need to worry about cross-contamination, so preparing everything on the same cutting board is fine.

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Cooking the Silbi Kimchi Fish Cake Stir-Fry

Now on to the cooking. First, the silbi kimchi fish cake stir-fry. Add 2 tbsp cooking oil to a reasonably wide frying pan and warm it slightly over medium heat.

Stir-Frying the Onion, Fish Cake and Silbi Kimchi

Add the prepared onion, fish cake and silbi kimchi all at once and cook them only lightly. Lay the onion on the bottom, and think of it as simply reheating the oil whose temperature dropped for a moment.

When the oil seems hot again, put 1 tbsp minced garlic and the prepared Cheongyang chilies on top of the ingredients.

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Next, add 3 tbsp sugar and mix evenly. From here on, keep stirring so nothing burns. About 1–2 minutes is enough for everything to blend.

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Seasoning with Soy Sauce and Chili Powder

When the ingredients are somewhat cooked, add 3–4 tbsp dark soy sauce (adjust this to how salty your silbi kimchi is) and 1 tbsp chili powder, and mix well.

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Raise the heat slightly to high for about 30 seconds and mix quickly, then switch back to medium and mix evenly for another 1–2 minutes.

Once everything is mixed, turn off the heat. Drizzle in 2 tbsp sesame oil (or 2 tbsp perilla oil, if you prefer) and mix well. Mixing it in after the heat is off keeps the nutty sesame aroma around longer, which gives better flavor when you top the noodles later.

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Cooking the Silbi Kimchi Fish Cake Noodles

With the silbi kimchi done, let’s make the noodle base. Boil the somen, rinse it once in cold water and drain it. Rinsing in cold water keeps it chewy when you eat it later. Make the broth ahead by adding 120–150 ml anchovy broth and a pinch of pepper to 800 ml water. Adjust the anchovy broth to taste. If the silbi kimchi fish cake stir-fry is a bit salty, you can use less.

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Making the Thin Egg Strips

Keep the broth on low heat so it stays hot. Now make the egg strips. Add 1 tbsp cooking oil to a frying pan, cook the beaten eggs into a thin sheet, and cut it into thin strips for easy eating.

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Assembling the Bowl

When the egg strips are ready, put the drained somen into a generous noodle bowl and pour the hot broth over it. Then top it with a little of the egg strips and a handful of the silbi kimchi fish cake stir-fry.

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The broth is hot, so it shouldn’t be a big problem either way, but if you put the egg strips and silbi kimchi fish cake stir-fry on the noodles first and pour the broth over them, it stays hotter, and you get a rich broth even before mixing.

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Silbi Kimchi Fish Cake Stir-Fry + Noodles Photo Gallery

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The Finished Silbi Kimchi Fish Cake Stir-Fry + Noodles

And here are the finished silbi kimchi fish cake stir-fry and the simple silbi kimchi fish cake noodles. Leftover stir-fry keeps for three to four days if you let it cool slightly and refrigerate it in a side-dish container.

Even if you make the noodle broth a little light, the stir-fried silbi kimchi will likely keep it from tasting under-seasoned. The fiery aroma of silbi kimchi on top makes it very enjoyable.

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Spicy, savory silbi kimchi fish cake stir-fry meets cool anchovy broth, and one slurp of noodles is wonderfully refreshing. The heat loosens slightly into the broth, and the softness of the egg strips rounds it out for a well-balanced bowl.

There’s also a sense of pride in turning an awkward bit of leftover silbi kimchi into such a nice bowl. If you make plenty of the stir-fry, it also works as a rice side dish at the next meal, or in udon and pasta.

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If you have leftover silbi kimchi, why not give this a try? You won’t regret it.

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To learn more about the fish cake used in this recipe, see the Wikipedia article on fishcake.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How long does silbi kimchi fish cake stir-fry take to make?

Prep takes 10 minutes and cooking 20 minutes. For reference, the silbi kimchi was already cut and the Cheongyang chilies were frozen, pre-sliced ones.

Q. How much broth do I need for the noodles?

For 2 servings of somen, use 800 ml of water with 120–150 ml anchovy broth and a pinch of pepper. For one serving, 400–500 ml of water with 60–75 ml of anchovy broth is enough, and if the stir-fry is a little salty, you can use even less broth.

Q. When should I add the sesame oil?

After you turn off the heat. Once the stir-fry has mixed well, remove it from the heat, drizzle in 2 tbsp sesame oil (or perilla oil, if you prefer) and mix. That keeps the nutty aroma around, which pays off when you top the noodles.

Q. How long can I keep leftover silbi kimchi fish cake stir-fry?

Three to four days. Let it cool slightly, then refrigerate it in a side-dish container.