Today’s recipe is for kongnamulguk (soybean sprout soup), which is one of the most common, typical, and popular Korean soups, made with soybean sprouts in a delicious, savory broth.
As you know, a Korean meal is composed of rice, soup or stew, and side dishes, so soup has a very important role in Korean cuisine. This soybean sprout soup is not only an everyday Korean staple, it’s also well-known among Koreans as a hangover cure soup, along with dried pollock soup (bugeoguk).
The soup is irresistible with savory broth and nutty crispy soybean sprouts. I often wonder if other cultures have a soup like this? It’s so important and central to Korean food that whenever you visit any Korean grocery store in any part of the world, they always stock soybean sprouts. These days you can find soybean sprouts in many non-Korean grocery stores too, or you can grow your own.
I made a video for this recipe in 2009 soon after I moved to the US from Canada. The recipe is basically the same as this one, but the video quality is much better and I can write a better recipe now, having written 2 Korean cookbooks since then!
When I was in elementary school in Korea I used to go to my aunt’s house during vacation. She didn’t have any children of her own so she was waiting for the moment I arrived. She gave me a lot of love, made me delicious meals and took me to the theatre with my uncle. She used to say, “oh, cute!’, then she squeezed my baby finger so tightly. It was a little painful but I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to let her down by complaining. It was really a wonderful time for me and a great memory. One of the dishes she made was this soup. My mom’s soup was not spicy but my aunt’s was spicy and more savory. I remember she used MSG at the end which was usual in those days, but my version doesn’t have it.
A tip for vegetarians is to use vegetarian stock instead of anchovy broth and to use soy sauce instead of fish sauce.
Whenever I go to the Korean grocery I always buy soybean sprouts and make this soup, and I always have it with kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi), even if I have to make it with just one small radish! The kkakdugi needs to be well-fermented, juicy, spicy, and sour. White fluffy rice, soybean sprouts soup, and kkakdugi mixed together, I can’t compare it to any more delicious food in the world. I was raised on it so I am so happy to share my delicious life with you, too.
Ingredients
Serves 3 to 4
- 1 pound soybean sprouts, washed and drained
- 8 large dried anchovies with the heads and guts removed
- 8 cups water
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 ounces onion, sliced (about ½ cup)
- 1 tablespoon (or more or less) gochu-garu (Korean hot pepper flakes)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt (or more or less to your taste)
- 2 to 3 green onions, sliced diagonally
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 2 to 3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds, ground
Directions
- Place the anchovies in a stock pouch or tie them up in a piece of cheesecloth.
- Place the soybean sprouts in a large pot. Add the water, dried anchovies, garlic, onion, gochu-garu, soy sauce, and fish sauce. Stir a few times with a spoon.
- Cover and cook for 30 minutes over medium high heat. It may boil over while cooking, just crack the lid if it does.
- Remove the anchovy pouch and discard.
- Stir in the salt to taste, green onion, and cook for another minute.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the sesame oil.
Serve
Ladle into individual soup bowls, top each serving with sesame seeds powder. Serve with rice, kimchi, a few more side dishes (if desired). The soup can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.
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Hello,
For the vegetarian version do we have to make the stock ahead of time, or can we add the stock ingredients with the sprouts, as we add the anchovies here in the regular version?
Yes, make the vegetable stock in advance.
Thank you so much for your reply! I added all the ingredients together the first time I made it and it tasted pretty good to me as someone who has not tried this soup before – next time I look forward to it tasting even better :)
OMG!! We read the recipe wrong and used gochujang instead of gochugaru… but ended up putting both once we realized. Still sooooooo delicious would recommend putting both for those who like it extra SPICY . Thanks Maangchi for another yummy recipe!
As long as you like the soup, I’m happy! Next time you make it, just follow the recipe tightly. When you eat it with rice, add some chopped sour kimchi to it. Happy cooking!
Cooked Kongnamul-guk (vegetarian version) for the first time at home! Used all authentic korean ingredients! Ate with Black rice! Happy✌ Thank you Maangchi!
Started off with buying too much beansprout. Found this recipe and as always, you have an amazing database of Kr. recipes.
Got a bit daring (thanks to your other recipes, I started cooking Kr. food at the start of Covid) and started to add a few things. I added shredded dried pollock because I have this in my pantry forever ago, firm tofu and Mu :) You see, I just made Bugeoguk a couple of days ago and I still have lots of Mu.
If I follow the exact measurements in all your recipes, I somehow have too much water (5.5 cups of water is alot. That’s almost 1.5L and the salt is short by far (I adjusted it at the end).
I also added MSG (as per your late aunt; Bless her soul). If you want clean soup, this would be the best recipe. Lots of aroha from Aoetaroa, Maangchi.
p.s. Have you consider making Al-Tang? This is my fav. :)
Bonsoir. Qu’est ce que MSG ?
GMS ou glutamate monosodique.
It’s literally 11:13 PM now and I just finished cooking this soup! I love it!
Thank you for this recipe!
And oh the kimchi banchan was made using your recipe, too!
Thank you for offering a vegetarian version. I still made it spicey. I use your recipe for kimchi.
This is my third batch of kakdugi, but this time I also home prepared soybean sprouts and made this soup to go along with it. You’re right Maangchi, they are so tasty together!! I love this combination! I’m a big fan of all your videos and recipes for about a year now. Thank you for all your hard work teaching! :) Maybe next I will try kongnamul bibimbap with all these sprouts ready :)
I’m glad you like my suggestions! : )
I FINALLY grew a successful (albeit, overgrown…) batch of soybean sprouts, which I quickly turned into kongnamulguk :) Such a delicious, light, filling recipe! Because my sprouts grew unevenly, many of them were very long, so I decided to just keep the roots attached. It added a little different texture, which I didn’t mind.
Thank you so much for creating recipes that are easy to follow, and delicious! I’ve been following your website for a few years now, and have yet to make anything that wasn’t tasty. :)
These are some amazing home-grown kongnamul! The soybean sprouts are not curled at all, they are straight and plump. That’s the definition of good kongnamul! You should share your tips here!
Made the spicy version. Yummy!
I only have the small dried anchovies, am I able to use them? How much? (if possible)
Use the big anchovies. :)
Hi maangchi oni thanks alot for your recipes
i am from egypt >>> in egypt we don’t eat soybean we only feed it to animals or put it in meat to make humarger
when i saw your recipe i started to grow soybean at home (i succeded )
and tried two of recipes 1- soybean soup = i like the spicy version
my dad loved it ( he is kinda hard to please when it come to food )
and i tried soybean side dish
definitly going to grow more soybean
thaaaaaaaaaaaaanks alot maangchi oni
I love this soup! It was so easy. I want to add the rice, but I cannot find a store to buy sweet black rice or barley rice. Can you help? It sounds so good! I did find sweet brown rice.
Maangchi! Can I use other kinds of dried fish as a substitute for anchovies?
dear manngchi,
i just discovered you! i just started a batch of kmichi tonight and i so want to make the soybean sprout soup, i have a quick question, in the photos above i see a bowl of kmichi and also rice, could you tell me what kind of rice and is it prepared in any special way.
i love your site and can’t wait to try all the recipes.
thank-you!
Check out the recipe here. Good luck! https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/rice
Hello Maangchi, I made this 콩나물국 and I really enjoyed it! It was so nice especially in this earthenware bowl, where it stayed warm a long time :)
Can I use other kind of oils rather than sesame oil??
i’m afraid to say that sesame oil can’t be replaced. https://www.maangchi.com/ingredient/sesame-oil
This is a list of Korean grocery stores in Phillippines. https://www.maangchi.com/shopping/philippines
Can I substitute the anchovies with fish sauce? I still can’t work up the courage to deal with those, much less clean them out! Until I can get myself to do that (or I manage to find someone else who will), would fish sauce work?
No, if you can’t find dried anchovies, skip them or use beef or chicken stock. Fish sauce is very salty.
많이 맛있어요!! 감사합니다~
While I was browsing your site looking for recipes for 반찬 to make for my Korean class picnic, I found this recipe too. I’m so glad I did!
이 주말에 저는 오이소박이김치 하고 감자조림 만들거예요!! ^^
Wish me luck Maangchi! My teacher and her friends are going to judge all the dishes the students make. :)
How did your oisobagi and potato side dishes turn out? Good luck with your Korean cooking!
Is there a substitute for dried anchovies/dried kelp I could use? Thanks!
Some people make soybean sprout soup without dried anchovies and kelp. But I always use dried anchovies to make the broth delicious. You can try it out without anchovies or use chicken stock.
After I made the khakdugi of course I had to challenge the Kongnamulguk and I must say that went really well. I didn’t have anchovis – I used flying fish broth instead. It was delicious, thank you!
Kkakdugi and kongnamulguk are good friends! I always eat my soybean sprout soup with kkakdugi or fermented kimchi. Good luck with your Korean cooking!
Maangchi,
You make it too easy for us to become good at Korean cooking! We can’t go wrong with your recipes! For instance, I made kongnamulguk last night and it came out delicious. When my brother-in-law’s girlfriend likes it you know its good as she’s not had much experience with Korean food.
As always…thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes!
망치선생님 감사합니다!
한국 음식 학생 데이빗
haha, you seem to spread Korean cooking to all your family and now to your brother-in-law’s girlfriend! I’d like to meet all of you someday!
Hey Maangchi. I have heard stories about how the Korean nobility used to eat guk on the side with the rice, whereas peasants ate theirs with rice inside it. I’ve never studied Korean history in great detail since I grew up in the states. But my guess is that the peasants were so pressed for time to get back to their subservient duties? Is that correct? I find it very interesting. I eat Guk like a peasant on days I am in a hurry. And I eat it like nobility when I have the leisurely time. I guess it was similar circumstances for people in those times. I wonder what other kind of food peasants ate. As for nobility, I am sure they had a little of EVERYTHING!
This is how I eat my Kongnamul Guk http://www.behgopa.com/2013/11/eating-kongnamul-guk-soybean-sprout.html
Hi! How is it?
I love 콩나물국!! I wanted ask you something: I love the rice that you eat in the video with spicy 콩나물국… my friend’s mother always make it but she’s in Korea since a few years ago and I couldnt ask her how to make that rice.So can you tell me how?
Thanks a lot! Your food is amazing!!!
Bye!!
Thank you! Check this out please. I posted how to make the purple multi-grain rice. https://www.maangchi.com/talk/topic/korean-multigrain-rice