Soybean sprout soup

Kongnamulguk 콩나물국

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).

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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.Soybean sprout soup

Ingredients

Serves 3 to 4

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Directions

  1. Place the anchovies in a stock pouch or tie them up in a piece of cheesecloth.dried anchovies
  2. 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.making Korean soybean sprout soup
  3. Cover and cook for 30 minutes over medium high heat. It may boil over while cooking, just crack the lid if it does.
  4. Remove the anchovy pouch and discard.
  5. Stir in the salt to taste, green onion, and cook for another minute.kongnamul-guk (콩나물국)
  6. 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.Korean soybean sprout soup

Posted on Monday, March 16th, 2009 at 11:40 am. Last updated on December 3, 2020.
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149 Comments:

  1. marybelle lim philippines joined 11/11 & has 1 comment
    Posted November 1st, 2011 at 7:19 pm |

    thank you maangchi you helped me so much to lern how to cook korean…. for my husbond

  2. andrea kim oahu, hawaii joined 6/10 & has 13 comments
    Posted September 7th, 2011 at 3:33 am |

    Can I make this with mung bean sprouts? I have a bunch in the fridge that will go bad soon …

    • Porcke Texas joined 10/11 & has 1 comment
      Posted October 29th, 2011 at 3:20 pm |

      Yes you can substitute mung bean sprouts in place of soybean sprouts. I prefer it myself and generally any bean sprout that is about the size of the soybean. More people are switching to other kinds of bean sprouts other than soy due to the concern of the phyto-estrogen( “phyto” only means that it is plant derived), or estrogen that naturally occurs in soy for those concerned with that issue.

  3. Linner Coxsackie, NY joined 3/11 & has 6 comments
    Posted June 15th, 2011 at 12:29 pm |

    For those who don’t know, the mesh ball Maangchi uses is called an infuser.

  4. susek Cleveland, OH joined 4/11 & has 1 comment
    Posted April 16th, 2011 at 9:03 pm |

    I just made this soup! It’s awesome! I actually made an anchovie/iriko stock with kelp and a dried shiitake mushroom ahead of time since I didn’t have your handy mesh ball. It was really simple, I love it. I’m going to tackle kimchi next… thanks for all the great recipes and videos!

    • Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,051 comments
      Posted April 17th, 2011 at 9:15 am |

      “I actually made an anchovie/iriko stock with kelp and a dried shiitake mushroom ahead of time..” very wise! I hope your kimchi turns out delicious!

  5. Kayla Baltimore, Maryland joined 11/10 & has 21 comments
    Posted December 31st, 2010 at 4:45 pm |

    I’ve been making a soup like this for a long time whenever I get sick. It always helps clear up the congestion. I don’t write down my recipes, so I need to wait until I make it again, but in my version I don’t use salt and just increase the amount of soy sauce, I use fresh peppers boiled with the stock (which I make homemade vegetarian stock), and I’ve never tried putting ground roasted sesame seeds in it (only the oil). Sometimes I throw in tofu or other vegetables, but I love soybean sprouts so those always take the center stage. I must try it your way, though. The ground seeds sound like they’d be good, and of course with radish kimchi (one of my favorites).

  6. jaylivg Houston joined 7/10 & has 107 comments
    Posted November 3rd, 2010 at 1:47 pm |

    wow .. finally i got to try this soup .. it’s cold outside , and this soup totally warms me up !! My nose is runny now !! LOL , but this soup is delicious , i tried the spicy version , super easy and so yummy !! great for a cold day like today , thanks maangchi !!
    although i ran out of soy sauce , ended up using teriyaki sauce LOL and i didn’t grind the sesame seed either , still tasted good !

  7. Casey New Jersey joined 4/10 & has 7 comments
    Posted August 15th, 2010 at 9:57 pm |

    I have made this recipe so many times now Maangchi! Thanks so much for posting it. My BF and I both feel like we have a cold coming on so I made it tonight with extra onions and garlic. It’s like a bowlfull of joy :D

  8. Planet Earth joined 8/10 & has 1 comment
    Posted August 15th, 2010 at 9:03 am |

    Hi Maangchi,

    My husband enjoys a sprout soup at a Korean restaurant in Chicago, but they won’t give him the recipe! It did learn it has 5 kinds of sprouts, tofu and pine nuts in it. It’s good for people with cancer. Any ideas what this soup might be?

  9. Bakuryuu joined 7/10 & has 1 comment
    Posted July 7th, 2010 at 3:41 am |

    Hello!
    When I was in Korea, I had Kongnamul guk, but it was cold, I only ever had it cold. How do I do this? just refrigerate after cooking and serve cold? It was very delicious cold, and refreshing!

    Thank you for your recipes!

  10. peonygirl portland, oregon joined 8/09 & has 18 comments
    Posted May 26th, 2010 at 11:53 am |

    Maangchi,
    I followed your recipe but the soybean spicy soup came out very watery with out much taste! In the pictures, it looks like the sprouts are in alot of water -the amt in the recipe was not enough so I added more. I should have added more of the other ingredients. It looks so flavorful and I was soo disappointed but I will try again. Any suggestions?

  11. shethatisnau Las Vegas, NV joined 5/10 & has 8 comments
    Posted May 24th, 2010 at 4:16 am |

    Maangchi!! This is delicious! I made it for breakfast two days ago and it makes an awesome first meal with a bowl of rice and natto! The subtly umami anchovy broth, the crunchy bean sprouts, rich sesame seeds~ yummy! I’ve had it two days in a row and can’t wait to make more. Thank you soooo much! This is probably my favorite recipe yet, and it’s so simple! I can’t wait to try more now :}

  12. Elisabeth
    Posted January 9th, 2010 at 3:22 pm |

    Maangchi I made this today and you are sooooo riiight!! The kaktugi is sooo good in the soup! Now I understand why you couldn’t stop eating it in the video!! Instead of Julie and Julia, I feel like this is Elisabeth and Maangchi! :)

  13. Lawrence& has 2 comments
    Posted October 23rd, 2009 at 11:50 pm |

    Hi Maangchi, I’m impressed by your videos… I’m a vegetarian who does not take onion and garlic, is there any way that i can modify this receipe to suit my diet??? And for the non-spicy version, could i cooked it with addition of the red pepper flake to make it spicy?? Please advices.. THank you!!! =)

    • Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,051 comments
      Posted October 24th, 2009 at 7:35 am |

      Yes, you could add the red pepper flakes in non-spicy version recipe. The amount depends on your taste! mild hot, super hot.. or suicidal hot! : ) If you can’t eat garlic and onion, skip them. Without garlic, kongnamulguk is still delcious. But how about green onion? Can you eat it? If so, use it instead of onion.

      • Lawrence& has 2 comments
        Posted October 24th, 2009 at 10:39 am |

        as long it is onion, i cant eat it… But anyway, really thank alot… I tried cooking your pan-fried tofu with the soya-sweet sauce, it tastes great without any onion and garlic added to it… Thanks alot for your guidance… I shall continue to try other receipes and hope that you will post more vegetarian receipes up on your website… =)

  14. linda
    Posted October 12th, 2009 at 9:27 am |

    hi maangchi,
    this is probably a silly question but how do you make jak ko bap? i call it the purple bap. i usually buy the bag of mixed grain (brown rice, alot of different beans etc..) i soak it for a couple hours and then i cook it in the rice cooker but it never comes out right…should i add regular rice and sweet rice too it? please help!

    • Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,051 comments
      Posted October 12th, 2009 at 9:47 am |

      I make my multi-grain rice this way using a pot.

      1. Combine 1 cup of short grain rice, 1/2 cup of sweet brown rice, 1/2 cup of barley rice, and 2 tbs of black sweet rice
      2. Wash and drain a couple of times and put it in a pot with a thick bottom
      3. Pour 3 cups of water into the pot and soak it for a few hours and close the lid.
      4. Bring the pot to a boil over medium heat for 10 minutes.
      5. Open the lid and turn the rice over with a rice scoop or spoon.
      6. Simmer it over low heat for another 10 minutes!

  15. Ataciara
    Posted October 8th, 2009 at 2:16 pm |

    Hi, Maangchi, how do you cook the black sweet rice? I want to cook it to go with my kongnamulguk (which is absolutely delicious by the way! I love your recipe! It’s especially tasty if you let the soup soak overnight in the fridge so the flavors seep in more, ive found) and kimchi (which I also love your recipe for! So much better than the kimchi I had at a Korean Restaurant! Yummy!)

    • Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,051 comments
      Posted October 8th, 2009 at 4:00 pm |

      Thank you for your interest in my recipes! Here is the recipe for my multi-grain rice including the black sweet rice:

      1. Combine 1 cup of short grain rice, 1/2 cup of sweet brown rice, 1/2 cup of barley rice, and 2 tbs of black sweet rice
      2. Wash and drain a couple of times and put it in a pot with a thick bottom
      3. Pour 3 cups of water into the pot and close the lid,and let it sit for a few hours
      4. Bring the pot to a boil over medium heat for 10 minutes.
      5. Open the lid and turn the rice over with a rice scoop or spoon.
      6. Simmer it over low heat for another 10 minutes!

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