Kongguksu (Chilled Soy Milk Noodle Soup)

Here is another terrific noodle dish that is perfect for hot summer days! Kongguksu is a dish in which noodles are served in savory soy milk. Back when I was a little kid in a small town in Korea, there was a lady who went around our neighborhood door to door selling freshly made kongguksu. I will never forget how skillfully she carried a big container of cold soy milk on her head holding it with one hand, while carrying a basket containing mounds of cooked noodles in the other. A bowl of her refreshing kongguksu was always such a nice treat in the summertime. I can only imagine how much my mother appreciated this lady since she would get a break from cooking and still be able to feed her family a delicious and healthy summer meal. Those good old days are gone, but kongguksu has remained as my family's summer favorite. My mother still makes kongguksu quite often every summer. A few days ago, she called and told me to pick up some soy milk she had made. (I am 50 some years old - oops now you know, but my mother still feels that she needs to take care of me. How lucky am I!) I just had to cook some noodles and add the garnish to enjoy it for lunch next day.

Making soy milk is less work than you might imagine. Soaked soy beans are first parboiled, then pureed and filtered through a sieve. More often than not, a small amount of sesame seeds and/or nuts (such as pine nuts, peanuts, almonds, and walnuts) are pureed together for an extra-nutty flavor. Last summer, I posted my recipe for kongguksu using black soybeans and peanuts. This recipe uses yellow soybeans and pine nuts. Either way, the result is creamy soy milk with a delicate nutty flavor. It is delightful and refreshing!

(This yields 3 - 5 servings of soy milk. Any leftover soy milk can be refrigerated for 2 - 3 days. It takes about 4 ounces of noodles per serving.)

Ingredients:

Thin wheat flour noodles (somyeon/somen)

1 cup dried soybeans (meju kong)
4 tablespoons roasted pine nuts (or peanuts or any other nuts of your choice)
2 teaspoons roasted sesame seeds (optional)
1 Kirby (pickling) cucumber, julienned
2 -4 pieces of sliced tomatoes (or watermelon)

Rinse and soak 1 cup dried soybeans overnight. (Yields about 2 - 2 1/4 cups soaked beans.)

Add enough water to cover the beans, bring to a boil and boil for an additional 3 minutes. (It is very important not to overcook the beans so that they retain their natural flavor.)

Drain and place the beans in cold water. Rub the beans with your fingers to remove the skins and pour out the skins that rise to the top. Repeat this process to remove as much as possible.

In a blender, puree 1/2 of the cooked beans, as well as 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 it 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 thoroughly.

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. Continue to drain 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 drained cold noodles in a serving bowl. Garnish with the julienned cucumbers, tomato pieces and sesame seeds. Drop a few ice cubes and serve very cold.