Breakfast in my youth, Kong-juk

My mother used to make it fresh for breakfast for the rest of family, even though it usually was not the first thing in my mind. During the high school years, I studied to death to enter good university. I went bed late and school hours were very early. By the time I got up, I was not a happy child. I took it out -as often the teenagers do, if that could be an excuse- to my mother, who also stressed out about her work and many other things but never took it out on me.
My mother never skipped to make breakfast even though she also had to run to her work. I was never allowed to go school without eating breakfast. At least, I had to drink freshly boiled and ground soybean porridge. I didn't appreciate it back then, but now I admire my mother with full heart. Soybean is not something fast to cook. She soaked beans overnight, boiled it tender from early in the morning, and ground it smooth for her lazy daughter.

Same broth is used to make summer treat, Kong-Guksu. These days, you can take shortcut by ground tofu instead.

But I did it very old fashioned way. I was missing my Mom. I need the little texture that only the ground soybean. So I soaked, boiled, and ground it with little bit of rice. Seasoned the mixture with doenjang, pepper and dried anchovy powder.
Two different status of soybean (boiled soybean and fermented soybean paste) make very unique taste.

I ate it with spacey green chili pickle I made earlier in late October. The snow covered outside makes me appreciate what I ate and what I had eaten.

for soaking
1/4 cup of dried soybean, 1cup of water, 1/4cup of short grain rice, 1cup of water

for porridge
3 cup of water, one table spoon of Korean soybean paste, 1/2 teaspoon dried anchovy power (if you don't have it, you can use bonito flake, even though it will give totally different taste), 1/2 teaspoon of pepper

1. wash soybean and rice and soak separately, in one cup of cold water overnight in the refrigerator.
2. Boil soybeans till it is tender. Grind it with soaked rice.
3. return to the pan and add three cups of water
4. boil the mixture till rice is cooked. Stir in order to prevent the bottom from burning.
5. Mix soybean paste with one table spoon of water very well. add it to the pan and stir.
6. mix anchovy powder and round black pepper. adjust seasonings with salt if necessary.

Summer slips through with noodles - Kong Cold noodle in Soybean milk

Korean Summer is intense; the air is thick with heat and humidity, I felt as if walking in the water.
One thing my mother often makes during the summer is Kong Guksu, noodle in soy milk.
Each family has different way of doing it. Some family mix sesame, peanut or pine nut for flavor. I am use to just plane soybean milk with cucumber on top.
You can do it with plane soybean milk. It may be a bit of stretch for non-Korean that eating noodle in soy milk, but remember pasta in cream sauce? It is same concept. :)

I did it in traditional way; sock and boil soy beans, ground it as silky as possible and add salt & pepper. The process takes a bit long, but it is wonderful meditation for me.

The short cut for making broth is blend a table spoon of peanut butter, salt & pepper to your taste with plane cold soy milk in blender. Add cooked and chilled wheat noodle of your choice.

I didn't like this rather bland noodle. My taste was too young to appreciate it. Suddenly, after 30 and some more years, I discover it as if it is new food! Some times, good things take time to be appreciated.