Here’s something healthy, simple and delicious you can make for breakfast every day and never get tired of: soy milk, called duyu (두유) in Korean. It’s a nutty blend of beans and nuts that has a lot of fiber and protein and is really good for you. There’s no milk in it at all, even though it look like foamy latte milk and goes down very smooth and creamy.
You can add whatever nuts you like to your soy milk, but I did a lot of experiments while developing this recipe and I found that cashews were perfect for it, just a little sweet and nutty. I also recommend that you don’t skip toasted sesame seeds, because they’re so flavorful and delicious.
Years ago, I posted a recipe on my website for Korean soy milk noodle soup, called kong-guk-su. Today’s recipe is similar but of course there are no noodles. But if you like duyu, you’ll love kong-guk-su!
Ingredients
Makes 4 to 5 servings
- 1 cup dried soybeans (187 grams), soaked in cold water overnight (will expand to 2½ cups)
- 3 cups icy cold water
- ¼ cup unsalted toasted cashews (40 grams)
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Directions
- Strain the beans and put them in a large bowl. Scrub the beans with your hands to remove the skins.
- Fill the bowl with cold water and remove any floating skins, then pour out the water. Repeat this a couple of times: scrubbing, adding water, pouring out the skins and water, until you are left with mostly skinned beans.
- Strain the skinned beans. It will be about 2½ cups.
- Put the beans in a large pot with 2 cups of water, cover, and boil for 15 minutes over medium high heat. If it boils over, cover pot halfway.
- Rinse the beans in cold water and remove the remaining skins floating on the top. Strain.
- Put 1 cup of the beans into a blender. Freeze the leftover beans for future use. Add the cashews and sesame seeds to the blender.
- Add 2 cups of water and blend for 2 minutes until the mixture turns creamy.
- Add the remaining cup of water and the salt. Blend for 10 seconds.
- Transfer the soy milk to 2 large cups and serve right away.
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It’s a lot of work getting those skins off but the milk is wonderfully creamy. I looked at many recipes and this one is the best.
Thank you for the tutorial and now my milk won’t be bitter anymore.
Hi Maangchi, Could you tell me where you got the stainless steel bowl that you use? It seems suitable to scrub the skins off the beans. I haven’t been able to find one. Thanks so much!
Hi Maangchi,
for the duyu and kongguksu recipe, you have different cooking times for the beans.
one says 15 minutes whereas the other is 20 minutes.
Which should we follow?
Follow the recipes! The recipes are different. Soy milk uses skinned beans and soy milk noodle soup (kongguksu) uses cooked soybeans including the skins before grinding, so the cooking time is different. https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/kongguksu Happy cooking!
Annyeonghaseyo Maangchi!
How did you get your soymilk so creamy and smooth without straining it? Every time I make soy milk, I have to strain with a cheesecloth because it leaves okara :(
Kamsahamnida! <3
I want to try this recipe but I’m allergic to cashews. Is anything I can use besides cashews? I’m a huge fan of your recipes
You can use other nuts, such as walnuts, pine nuts, or even roasted peanuts.
Hi Maangchi! :-)
What should be the consistency of the soybeans when they are cooked correctly? Should they be very soft or will they still be somewhat firm? After I cooked mine for 15 minutes they were still firm when I tasted them? I just want to make sure that I cooked them correctly. Thank you :-)
15 minutes cooking over medium high heat will be enough. Blend it until creamy. If you cook the beans too long, they may smell like meju (fermented soybean blocks).
Can we add chia seeds to this drink?
Hi Maangchi,
Loved the recipe and the cooking pot you used to boil the soybeans!! Can you tell me what brand it is? I would love to get one for our home.
Keep up the wonderful work. Thank you.
Hi Maangchi,
Is it safe, to cook soy beans only 15 minutes ?
Some says it needs to be cooked more than 30 minutes, some says 2 or 3 hours to remove anti-trypsin.
I’m a little bit confused.
hi,
it is safe to cook soybeans for just 15 minutes if u already removed most of its skin. The phytic acid or anti nutrient lies in the skin. By soaking it preferably overnight and removing the skin, you already removed most of the phytic acid to allow for nutrient absorption.
I hope that helps.
Ima
Hello Manngchi! i love your recipe!
I wanna make more than 1 cup at a time as you said your friend makes amount for a week at a time. if i make that much do i have to boil than 15 minutes? Do you have any tips for me when i make a large amount?
Hi Maangchi,
Great recipe and quick breakfast idea! Isn’t this similar to kongguksu? We drink this with our breakfast or afternoon snack-drink in Singapore too, but we like ours sweet (hot or cold). But living away from Singapore, i realised how i used to take buying fresh-ground soy bean milk from the shops for granted. Now I know how to make my own at home – easy! Thank You. <3
Yes, cook some thin noodles and put it in a bowl and pour homemade soy milk into the bowl. You can add some ice cubes and shredded cucumber and sliced tomato. That’s soy milk noodle soup (kong-guksu).https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/kongguksu