Peanut Butter Kongguksu
serves 1
My preferred way of making kongguksu (noodles in chilled soymilk broth) is with homemade soymilk, but I've embraced this shortcut version since I don't have a soymilk maker at my apartment. The resulting broth is, admittedly, nowhere near as fragrant as the one made from fresh soymilk. But texture wise, it works phenomenally for a silky broth—and adding peanut butter + Yondu umami seasoning more than make up in the flavor department.
what you need:
for the peanut butter soymilk broth:
4.5 oz silken tofu
⅓ cup peanut butter (the creamy and sweet kind)
¾ cup chicken stock
½ cup water
1 small or ½ large garlic clove
1 small piece ginger, about 4 g
pinch of salt
1 tsp Yondu umami seasoning sauce. If you don’t have Yondu, you can substitute with a small amount of soy sauce and more salt and/or MSG.
for assembly:
1 bundle somyeon or somen noodles, about 50 g
¾ cup ice cubes
peanut butter soymilk broth. You may not need the full amount.
1 marinated egg, halved. I like this recipe by The Flavor Bender.
2-3 shiitake mushrooms, fresh or dried and reconstituted, and boiled
3-5 sheets snacking seaweed
thinly sliced scallions
1 tsp sesame oil
furikake or crushed sesame seeds
how to make it:
to make the broth:
combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
TIP: make ahead and chill completely in the fridge before assembly.
to assemble:
boil the noodles according to package instructions. drain and rinse in an ice bath.
transfer noodles to serving bowl. add ice cubes, then pour over the broth. top with marinated egg, shiitake mushrooms, snacking seaweed, and scallions. drizzle over sesame oil and sprinkle over furikake or crushed sesame seeds. enjoy.
