Soybean sprout soup Kongnamulguk 콩나물국

Kongnamulguk is typical Korean everyday soup.

In my opinion, if you see someone who can make delicious kimchi and kongnamulguk, you can say he or she is good at Korean cooking!

I’m introducing 2 versions of soybean sprout soup to you: a spicy version and a non-spicy version.

One of my aunts who passed away last year made this spicy version of kongnamulguk. When I was young, I used to go to her house during my summer vacation for a few weeks. She had no children so she always welcomed me. I have so many good memories about her.

I watched her making this soup because I really liked the taste. Even though it’s a very simple and easy recipe, since I saw her cooking this soup, I have been using this recipe for decades!

Ironically, she added a little MSG to the soup at the end, but I don’t. I like to enjoy the taste of natural ingredients. Here are my recipes!

Spicy version

Ingredients

1 package of soybean sprouts (500 grams), water, kosher salt, soy sauce, hot pepper flakes, onion, garlic, green onion, dried anchovies, roasted toasted sesame seeds, and toasted sesame oil.

Directions

1. Rinse and drain a package of soybean sprouts (500 grams) a few times over. Pick out any rotten sprouts.
   
2. Put the soybean sprouts into a pot and add 5½ cups of water.
3. Add 1½ ts kosher salt, 1 ts soy sauce, 2 cloves of minced garlic, ½ tbs of hot pepper flakes.
4. Slice half a medium sized onion and put it in the pot.
5. Add a handful of dried anchovies (about 7 large dried anchovies) after removing the intestines.
   *tip: this is going to be taken out later, we won’t eat it
6. Close the lid and bring to a boil over medium heat for about 15 minutes.
7. When the soup boils over, open the lid and stir the soup with a spoon.
8. Lower the heat and cook another 25 minutes.
9. Add 2 chopped green onions and 1 or 2 ts of toasted sesame oil.
10. Turn off the heat.
11. Grind roasted sesame seeds in a grinder.
12. Put the soup in a bowl and sprinkle some sesame seed powder on top, just before serving.
    

Non-spicy vegetarian version

Ingredients

1 package of soybean sprouts (500 grams), water, kosher salt, kelp, garlic, green onion, onion, roasted toasted sesame seeds, and toasted sesame oil.

Directions

1. Rinse and drain a package of soybean sprouts (500 grams) a few times over. Pick out any rotten sprouts.
2. Put the soybean sprouts into a pot and add 5½ cups of water.
3. Add 1½ ts kosher salt, ½ cup worth of kelp, and 2 cloves of minced garlic.
4. Slice half a medium sized onion and put it in the pot.
5. Close the lid and bring to a boil over medium heat for about 15 minutes.
6. When the soup boils over, open the lid and stir it with a spoon.
7. Lower the heat and simmer another 25 minutes.
8. Take the kelp out of the soup.
9. Add 2 chopped green onions and 1 or 2 ts of toasted sesame oil.
   
10. Turn off the heat.
11. Grind roasted sesame seeds in a grinder.
12. Put the soup in a bowl and sprinkle some sesame seed powder on top, just before serving.