• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Korean Bapsang logo

  • Start Here
  • Recipes
    • Appetizer/Snack
    • Main Dish
      • Meat
      • Noodles and Rice
      • Seafood
    • Side Dish
    • Slow Cooker
    • Soup
    • Stew
    • Desserts/Sweets
    • Korean-Chinese
    • Vegetables
    • Vegetarian dish
    • Traditional holiday food
      • Chuseok (Korean thanksgiving)
    • Special Event
    • Korean BBQ
  • Pantry
  • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Featured On
    • Contact
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Start Here
  • Recipes
  • Pantry
  • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » Main Dish

    Kongguksu (Chilled Soy Milk Noodle Soup)

    Published 07/15/2010. Updated 05/02/2021

    Jump to Recipe

    Kongguksu is a refreshing noodle dish in which noodles are served in savory soy milk. Perfect for hot summer days!

    DSC 1715 e1536078152215 - Kongguksu (Chilled Soy Milk Noodle Soup)

    Here is another terrific noodle dish that’s 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 on a hot summer day and still be able to feed her family a delicious and healthy 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.

    How to make soy milk

    Making soy milk is less work than you might imagine. Soaked soybeans are cooked, then pureed and filtered through a sieve.

    The key to making delicious soy milk for kongguksu is not to overcook the beans so that they retain their natural flavor. More often than not, a small amount of sesame seeds and/or nuts (such as pine nuts, peanuts, almonds, and walnuts) are pureed with the soybeans for an extra-nutty flavor.

    This recipe uses yellow soybeans as well as pine nuts and sesame seeds. You can also use black soybeans and other nuts such as peanuts and almonds. The result is creamy soy milk with a delicate nutty flavor. It is delightful and refreshing!

    DSC 1702 e1536078527576 - Kongguksu (Chilled Soy Milk Noodle Soup)

    For more Korean cooking inspirations, follow along on YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

    DSC 1702 350x350 - Kongguksu (Chilled Soy Milk Noodle Soup)

    Kongguksu (Chilled Soy Milk Noodle Soup)

    4.44 from 32 votes
    Main
    Prep Time: 20 minutes
    Cook Time: 10 minutes
    Resting time: 6 hours
    Total Time: 30 minutes
    Servings: 4
    Print Recipe

    Ingredients

    • 1 cup dried soybeans meju kong
    • 4 tablespoons roasted pine nuts or any other nuts of your choosing
    • 2 teaspoons roasted sesame seeds more for garnish
    • salt to taste
    • 1 small Kirby pickling cucumber, julienned
    • 1 small tomato sliced (or watermelon) - optional
    • somyeon/somen  thin wheat flour noodles - about 4 ounces per serving

    Instructions

    • Rinse and soak 1 cup dried soybeans for 5 to 6 hours or overnight. (Yields about 2 to 2 1/4 cups soaked beans.)
      kongguksu2 e1548354461960 - Kongguksu (Chilled Soy Milk Noodle Soup)
    • 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.
      kongguksu3 e1548354476563 - Kongguksu (Chilled Soy Milk Noodle Soup)
    • 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.
      kongguksu6 e1548354522613 - Kongguksu (Chilled Soy Milk Noodle Soup)
    • 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.)
      kongguksu5 e1548354582613 - Kongguksu (Chilled Soy Milk Noodle Soup)
    • 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.

    Notes

    Any leftover soy milk can be refrigerated for 3 - 4 days.
    Tried this recipe?Mention @koreanbapsang or tag #koreanbapsang!

    You may also like:

    • DSC 0848 3 150x150 - Kongguksu (Chilled Soy Milk Noodle Soup)Kkaennip Jeon (Pan-fried Stuffed Perilla Leaves)
    • DSC 2725 2 e1613456389474 150x150 - Kongguksu (Chilled Soy Milk Noodle Soup)Domi Maeuntang (Spicy Fish Stew with Red Snapper)
    • DSC7570 3 e1577862721959 150x150 - Kongguksu (Chilled Soy Milk Noodle Soup)Tteokguk (Korean Rice Cake Soup)
    • DSC 0210 e1541395225208 150x150 - Kongguksu (Chilled Soy Milk Noodle Soup)Tangsuyuk (Sweet and Sour Beef or Pork)
    « Galbi (Korean BBQ Short Ribs)
    Oi Muchim (Spicy Cucumber Salad) »
    1757 shares
    • Share
    • Tweet
    • Email

    Primary Sidebar

    Welcome to Korean Bapsang

    Korean Bapsang Author
    Hi! I'm Hyosun, and I am a Korean-American mom of two wonderful grown-up children. Here, you will learn how to cook Korean dishes the way we Koreans traditionally eat at home. Read More...

    Never Miss a Recipe

    Popular Recipes

    • a large bowl of red spicy Korean stir-fried rice cakes with serving plates and chopsticks
    • 2 quarter-heads of napa cabbage kimchi in a large ceramic bowl
    • Stir-fried glass noodles with beef and vegetables in a square bowl
    • DSC 06281 e1422146518897 500x500 - Kongguksu (Chilled Soy Milk Noodle Soup)
    • Korean noodles in a black bean sauce topped with cucumber matchsticks and served in a white bowl
    • A 6-photo collage of 15 Korean vegetable side dishes
    • Korean fried chicken nuggets in a sweet and savory sauce
    • kimchi stew with tofu in an earthen pot with the lid laid on the side of the pot

    Popular Categories

    Noodles and rice category banner

    Korean BBQ category banner

    Stews category banner

    As Featured On:

       

    Footer

    Korean Bapsang New Logo

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    Copyright © 2023 · All rights reserved · Korean Bapsang