Kongguk (Cold Soy Milk Soup)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large bowl for soaking
• •3-quart pot
• •Blender, high-speed if available
• •Fine-mesh sieve or nut milk bag, optional
• •Chilled serving bowls

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the beans

   Put the soybeans in a large bowl, rinse until the water runs mostly clear, then cover with 6 cups cold water. Soak 8 to 12 hours, or overnight, until the beans have doubled and split cleanly when pressed. In summer heat, soak them in the refrigerator. The soak is not laziness; it lets the beans cook evenly before the outside goes soft and the center stays raw.

2. 2

   Boil with care

   Drain the soaked beans and put them in a 3-quart pot with 5 cups fresh water. Bring to a lively boil over medium-high heat, then lower just enough to keep a steady boil and cook 12 to 14 minutes, skimming foam. Start checking at 10 minutes. A bean skin should rub loose between your fingers, and the split bean should taste cooked to the center, with no raw bean bite. Stop there. Boil much longer and the kongguk turns dull and chalky.

   Do not blend soaked soybeans raw. They need real boiling first, but not a long stew. This is the narrow little gate the dish walks through.
3. 3

   Chill and skin

   Drain the beans and rinse them under cold water to stop the cooking. Put them in a bowl of cold water and rub handfuls between your palms so the loosened skins float up. Pour off the skins and repeat 3 or 4 times. You do not need to chase every last skin like a person with no dinner to cook, but remove most of them. The soup will be cleaner and smoother.

4. 4

   Blend the milk

   Put the skinned beans in a blender with 2 1/2 cups ice-cold water, 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds, and the pine nuts if using. Blend 90 seconds, rest 20 seconds, then blend another 60 seconds, until the milk looks thick and pale ivory. Add the remaining 1/2 cup cold water only if the blender needs help or the soup is too thick to pour. It should coat a spoon lightly, not run like store-bought soy milk.

5. 5

   Strain or keep thick

   Taste the texture. If your blender left coarse grit, pour the kongguk through a fine-mesh sieve or nut milk bag and press hard. If it is smooth with only a little body, leave it as it is. Measure the finished milk; you want about 4 cups. If you are short, add cold water by the tablespoon. Do not thin it carelessly, because this dish is meant to have weight.

6. 6

   Chill and season

   Refrigerate the kongguk at least 1 hour, until very cold. Stir well, because soybean solids settle. Season the full batch with 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, then taste it cold. Cold food hides salt, so seasoning before chilling lies to you. If your table likes a faint sweet edge, stir in 1 teaspoon sugar, not more. 손맛 (hand-taste) is real; I measure it anyway.

   Salt or sugar is a household argument, not a moral one. Put both on the table if you must, but start with measured seasoning so the beans still taste like beans.
7. 7

   Serve icy cold

   Pour 1 to 1 1/2 cups kongguk into each chilled bowl. Add 2 or 3 ice cubes, a small pile of cucumber matchsticks, and a pinch of toasted sesame seeds. Serve at once with a spoon, and with kimchi or rice if this is the meal. Stir before every serving; a good kongguk settles because it is made from real beans.

Chef Tips

• •Buy dried yellow soybeans from a shop with steady turnover. Old beans stay wrinkled after soaking and make a tired kongguk no blender can rescue. If they do not swell properly overnight, save them for a long-cooked dish and buy fresher beans.
• •A high-speed blender is a fair modern vessel. 시대가 바뀌면 음식도 바뀌어야 해요. When times change, food must change too. The corner you may cut is straining, if the texture is already smooth. The corner you may not cut is boiling the beans correctly.
• •Notebook 31 says to check the beans early, then every minute. The clock gives you a range; the bean gives you the answer. Skin slipping, center cooked, no raw bite. That is the point to stop.
• •For kongguksu (cold soy milk noodles), boil 180g somyeon (thin wheat noodles) for 2 servings, rinse until cold and slick-free, divide into bowls, and pour 1 1/2 cups kongguk over each. Add cucumber and ice at the end.
• •Keep kongguk cold and covered. It will hold 2 days in the refrigerator, but it thickens and settles, so stir before serving and adjust with a spoonful of cold water only if needed. Do not leave it sitting out on a summer table.

Advance Preparation

• •Soak the soybeans the night before. If the kitchen is warm, refrigerate the soaking bowl so the beans stay clean and fresh.
• •The cooked and skinned beans can be refrigerated in cold water for up to 24 hours before blending. Drain them well before they go into the blender.
• •The finished kongguk can be made 1 day ahead and chilled. Season after it is fully cold, then taste again at serving because cold and time both quiet the salt.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 625g)