Cold soy milk noodle soup (Kongguksu: 콩국수) is great for the summertime: it’s a dish of thin wheat flour noodles in a cold, creamy, nutty and refreshing soy milk broth.
I first shared my kongguksu recipe on my website nine years ago! I’m always experimenting and testing in my kitchen to make more delicious version of my recipes, so now it’s time to share this new version. The real secret to this recipe is in making nice smooth soy milk. A powerful blender is useful or you can just keep grinding the beans until you have smooth milk.
Let’s make such a simple, quick, nutritious, and delicious kongguksu and enjoy our summer!
Ingredients (2 servings)
- ½ cup dried soy beans (90 grams), washed and soaked in cold water for overnight
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts
- 8 ounces somyeon (thin wheat flour noodles)
- 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 hard boiled egg, shelled and cut into 8 equal pieces
- ½ cup cucumber matchsticks
- 1 small tomato, sliced
- 10 to 12 ice cubes, optional
Soaked soy beans
Directions
Make the soy milk
- Strain the beans and add them to a heavy pot with 2 cups of water. Cook for 15 minutes over medium high heat, uncovered. Then cover and simmer for another 5 minutes over low heat.
- Remove from the heat. Uncover, stir, and let them cool down for 10 minutes.
- Transfer the beans and the water from cooking them (about ½ cup) to a blender. Add 3 cups of cold water, the pine nuts, and the sesame seeds.
- Blend at high speed for 1 to 2 minutes, until everything is smooth and creamy. It may take longer depending on the power of your blenders.
- Transfer the soy milk to an airtight container or glass jar and refrigerate for up to 24 hours until you’re ready to make kongguksu.
Cook the noodles
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium high heat.
- Add the noodles and stir them with a wooden spoon so they don’t stick together. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes. If it boils over, stir and crack the lid.
- Taste a sample to see if the noodles are cooked. You can use chopsticks or tongs. There shouldn’t be anything hard in the noodles when you chew them. If there is, cook them longer. If they are done, remove from the heat.
- Transfer the noodles to a large strainer and rinse them in cold running water. Gently rub the noodles between your palms and in the strainer until they are cold and not slippery. Divide the noodles into 2 equal portions and gently squeeze excess water from each portion and put them into 2 large shallow bowls.
Put it together
- Bring the soy milk from the refrigerator. Add the salt and stir it in well with a wooden spoon. You can add more or less salt depending on your taste.
- Pour the soy milk on top of the noodles in each bowl. Place cucumber, egg, tomato pieces on top of the noodles. Add some ice cubes if you use. Serve right away with kimchi and a few more side dishes.
Maangchi's Amazon picks for this recipe
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The recipe is great! It’s really hot in the summer at Arizona so this dish is great on a very hot day! Looking forward to make it another round :)
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Maangchi,
Your Kongguksu recipe was so delicious! It would have been perfect on its own but we ate it with some side dishes.
It’s almost always warm in Florida so my husband and I make your cold soup recipes all year long!
Jasmin :)
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Hi Maangchi! Does this taste like soya milk?
Looks great! Thanks!
Hi Maangchi!
I’m a big fan of your channel. I’ve learned all the Korean dishes I know just from watching your show. I hope someday I will be able to meet you and send my greetings to you personally. :)
This recipe I have been watching several time. And I noticed that you added ice. I just thought, would it be okay as well if I blend it with ice? Since I will be adding water when I puree the soybean, ice might water it down and affect the flavor? :D Hehe.. Just my thought..
Let me know what you think..
Thanks,
Mik
I saw this soup being served on a hot day on a kdrama. It looked so good, I immediately backed it up to see what it was called. Then I searched your site to find the recipe. I use your recipes all the time. ^_^
Today I wanted it but I was too tired to make soy milk. I used to live in Thailand so I am familiar with the taste of homemade soy milk. So, I tried buying plain soy milk with no sugar. I only added salt and mixed nuts & it tasted wonderful! I am glad it worked. The soup was so refreshing and I will make it many more times before it gets cold outside.
Question: I cannot eat wheat so I used very thin sweet potato noodles and they were nice, but do you have any other ideas for a good replacement noodle that is not made of wheat?
Oh I almost forgot
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Thanks for the tip for the noodles, a lot of my readers who can’t eat wheat will also appreciate it. It looks wodnerful to me, and delicious.
Thanks for the recipe!!!!
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I love love love this recipe! Thank you as always… I posted some photos of my own version on my blog but it’s not as good as yours… still, I enjoyed every bite! It’s been a while Maangchi, when are you coming back to L.A.? Hope everything is well with you…
Hello Maangchi! ;)
Thank you soooo much for this recipe! I loved those in Korea and I really can enjoy them home too! It’s really hot here in Czech these days so it fits the time even more! ;)
Thanks a lot! You are really great! I cook according to your recipes for a long time and all of them are great and easy to make! ;)
hello maangchi! i have been following your recipes for a while now, and this is the best korean cooking websites I ever found! all your recipes are delicious and easy to follow (especially with the pictures).
I’m wondering what kind of mixed nuts you used? peanuts, almonds, walnuts? or maybe other kind of nuts? I just hope it’s not as expensive as pine nuts.
I made your yak gochujang recipes. yes, it turned out great. and yes, my sister LOVED it, but the costs made me CAN’T include it in my student’s daily recipes
Maangchi, this is my favorite food ever! :) I can’t thank you enough for sharing this recipe. I eat this every day! I find one batch can make me four servings of kongguksu, which is amazing. I cook 2 cups of soybeans at a time now and freeze 4 bags at a time, so I can always have some homemade soymilk on hand for delicious kongguksu! The nuts really add such a delicious taste to the milk.
Is it bad that I really love mine with tons of cucumber and tomato? :) I always add a bunch of cucumber and fresh grape tomato from my garden! It started off as just a garnish, but then… it just piled on higher and higher on my kongguksu, like it was part of the meal! Oops! Did you say this could be eaten with watermelon, too? I really want to try that! What else would taste good in kongguksu? :D
“I cook 2 cups of soybeans at a time now and freeze 4 bags at a time, so I can always have some homemade soymilk on hand for delicious kongguksu!” What a great tip it is!
My cousin has been making soy milk for her family for years and years just like you!
If you have time, please copy your post and paste it on the forum so that I can give the link if I’m asked by my new readers.
https://www.maangchi.com/talk/forum/general-discussion
Add as much cucumber and tomato as you want. Why not? I’m not familiar with using watermelon though. I like to eat watermelon by itself. : )
I hear ya! Made this dish for the first time today, but with red beans as I can’t find soy beans lately. The fresh cucumber soup (Korean gazpacho) that Maangchi has in her recipes is out of control good with this soup!!! We ate all the noodles and all the cold cucumber soup – my wife (from Busan) was drinking the cucumber soup straight from the bowl (she’s a great teacher as I started drinking it, too, straight from the bowl)! I’m looking forward to making this again, and I’m glad I’m in good company!
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