Kongguksu Cold Soy Milk Noodle Soup Recipes

KONGGUKSU (CHILLED SOY MILK NOODLE SOUP)

Steps:

• Rinse and soak 1 cup dried soybeans for 5 to 6 hours or overnight. (Yields about 2 to 2 1/4 cups soaked beans.)
• Add enough water to cover the beans, bring to a boil and cook for an additional 3 - 4 minutes. (Do not overcook.) Drain and place the beans in cold water to cool. Rub the beans with your fingers to remove the skins. Pour out the skins that rise to the top. Add more water. Repeat this process to remove as much as possible.
• In a blender, puree 1/2 of the cooked beans, 2 tablespoons of nuts, and a teaspoon of sesame seeds, if using, in about 2 cups of cold water as fine as you can. (The finer it is, the creamier the result will be.) Repeat with the remaining beans. Add water (no more than a cup) to adjust the thickness of the liquid.
• Run the puree through a fine strainer for a smooth milk-like texture, stirring with a spoon to force it through. (This step is optional.)
• Lightly salt to taste. Stir well. Refrigerate to chill.
• Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Cook somyeon noodles according to the package instructions (about 3 minutes). Drain quickly and shock in cold water to stop cooking. Drain again and rinse in icy cold water. Make serving size mounds. Place the mounds in a colander to drain.
• Stir up the solids settled on the bottom of the soy milk and pour over the noodles in a serving bowl. Garnish with the julienned cucumbers, tomato pieces and/or sesame seeds. Drop in a few ice cubes and serve very cold.

COLD SOY MILK NOODLE SOUP (KONGGUKSU)

Steps:

• Soak dry soybeans 3 hrs to overnight until they are fully rehydrated. If the weather is really warm, soak overnight in the fridge. 1 cup dry soybeans will be about 2 1/2 cup when fully soaked.
• Rinse soybeans. Discard any soybean skins/casings that float to the top. But you can just blend the whole thing including the casings, not a big deal.
• Add rehydrated, cleaned soybeans and 4-5 cups of water in a pot and bring to boil. Cook UNCOVERED.Watch closely so that it does not overflow.
• Once it starts to boil, reduce heat to medium.
• Cook for 7 -8 minutes until soybeans are fully cooked. Take a couple beans and taste it. It should still be slightly crunchy but fully cooked when done.
• Drain cooked soybeans and let it cool.
• Cook noodles according to package directions but on the al dente side. I made mine with leftover buckwheat noodles but you can use any generic Korean noodles for udon 우동, kalguksu 칼국수 or jjajangmyeon 짜장면. Just don't use too soft, too thin noodles like somyeon 소면 or rice noodles because the soup is thick and substantial and you need chewy, thicker noodles that can stand up to that.
• While the noodles are cooking, julienne cucumbers to use as topping. Optionally, you can slice some watermelons into triangles or just use a big spoon to make a couple scoops.
• In a blender, add cooked soybeans (doesn't have to be completely cooled, just cool enough for you to handle) and add about 2 cups of cold water. It makes about 3 1/2 cups in the blender.Blend until smooth until you really don't see a lot of movement in the blender which means it's getting too thick to blend.
• Add 1 cup cold water to blender and blend again. Again, blend until you don't see much movement which means it's time to add more water.
• Add 1 cup cold water to blender again and blend.
• If you need to serve immediately, stop here and add 1 1/2 cups of ice and stir to cool down the liquid.
• If you have time to chill, add 1 cup water and blend one final time. This time you should see some foam at the top.
• Chill in refrigerator for few hours before serving.
• When ready to serve, in a bowl add the noodles and pour soy milk on top. Garnish with cucumbers and watermelon.
• It tastes best when the salt and crushed sesame seeds are added at the table individually after it is served. Each person can season this fabulous Cold Soy Milk Noodle Soup to their liking. As a general guideline, use about 1/4 tsp sea salt to 2 cups of soy milk - which is probably a good amount for each big bowl of serving.