How it Became a National Dish Loved by People

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un said:

"His was a noble life of a people's leader, who regarded ‘The people are my God' as his motto, applied it to his ideas and leadership and turned it into reality."

Okyru Restaurant, located at the bank of the beautiful Taedong River and boasting of its elegance and intricate features of combining both national classical beauty and modern architecture, is home to noodle on flat vessel, one of the national dish loved by Korean people of all ages and both sexes. The noodles served at the restaurant became a national pride and loved by everyone. The great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung visited the restaurant on several occasions. During his visits, the Great Leader personally tasted the noodle and taught the difference between noodle on flat vessel and cold noodle dish and how to improve its quality.

On April 4, Juche 78 (1989), the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung, who was very pleased that Okryu Restaurant was enlarged so that more people could be served at a time than before, visited the restaurant to acquaint himself with its service activities on the spot.

After personally tasting the noodle on flat vessel, the Great Leader said that the noodles were good and if a fault was to be found in it, its only problem was that it didn't taste as good as the noodle made in the past. He said that Pyongyang noodle on flat vessel was so famous for its taste that you could not say that you had been to Pyongyang if you had not tried its noodle on flat vessel.

The great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung said that Pyongyang noodle on flat vessel was originally served for two or three who would sit in a warm heated room. They would then fill one and the same large flat vessel up with noodle and minced meat and garnish and eat it together pouring lukewarm broth into it from a bowl beside them. Saying that two eating from one and the same vessel was unhygienic and highly uncultured, he said that serving it for one on a small vessel like those in Okryu Restaurant was the best option.

That day, he taught the employees of the restaurant the difference between noodle on flat vessel and cold noodle which even they didn't know of and gave detailed instructions on how to prepare it.

He said that noodle on flat vessel taste better in hot broth rather than cold one and that originally, it was served hot. He also said that if cold broth was poured into it, it's called cold noodles and not noodles on a flat vessel and the person who doesn't know the difference of this has never tried real Pyongyang noodle on flat vessel.

Saying that broth poured onto the noodles should neither be hot nor cold but just right, he gave detailed instructions on improving service by serving hot broth from a kettle to customers who want it served hot and cold to those who want it cold according to their tastes.

On September 8, Juche 78 (1989), the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung visited the restaurant again.

That day, the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung complied with the earnest requests of the officials of the restaurant, who asked him to taste the noodles with the high pride of winning the first place at the national noodle contest, and tasted the noodle on flat vessel cooked by the cooks with their whole hearts. He gave his compliments to the chefs for its deliciousness and sincere preparation. He then earnestly told the officials that they should serve this award-winning noodle in flat vessel to people.

Although he was busy, the President visited the restaurant again on October 3, Juche 79 (1990) and asked an accompanying official if the taste of the noodle was still maintained. After being told by the official that it is still kept high, he was satisfied most of all and said that Okryu Restaurant should be loved by everyone as the people's Okryu Restaurant in the future, too. That day, he also tasted the noodle, highly praised that noodle of Okryu Restaurant was indeed delicious and stressed that its taste should never deteriorate.

Therefore under his meticulous guidance, the distinction between noodle on flat vessel and cold noodle was made clear and Pyongyang noodle on flat vessel was able to save its genuine flavor and become a dish loved by people.