Korean · soup

Kongnamul Gukbap (Soybean Sprout Soup with Rice)

Kongnamul Gukbap (Soybean Sprout Soup with Rice) reads marine & briny 6.1, salinity 5.9 and umami 5.0 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Korean soup, about 40 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Marine & Briny 6.1 · Salinity 5.9 · Umami 5.0 · Funk & Ferment 4.8 · Allium 4.2 · Sourness 4.0 · Nutty 2.9 · Richness 2.8 · Heat 2.6 · Herbaceous 1.9 · Warm Spice 1.3 · Earthy 1.2 · Sweetness 0.8 · Smoke 0.7 · Bitterness 0.7

What's in it (13)

Time & effort: about 40 min · effort: medium

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 81.1 kcal, 3.3 g protein, 0.7 g fat, 14.2 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains seafood · Contains egg — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (6 steps)

  1. Rinse the sprouts in two changes of water and pinch off the stringy tails; the yellow heads are where the flavour is and the tails are where the bitterness is.
  2. Put the anchovies and kelp in the cold water and bring slowly to a simmer over 10 minutes. Take the kelp out as soon as bubbles appear at the edge, and simmer the anchovies 8 minutes more, then strain.
  3. Bring the strained broth to a boil, add the sprouts and the garlic, and cook 6 to 8 minutes. Now the rule everyone in Korea knows: either keep the lid on for the whole time or take it off for the whole time, but do not lift it partway. Half-cooked soybean sprouts exposed to air develop a strong raw-bean smell that will not cook out. The sprouts are done when the heads are tender and the stems still snap.
  4. Season with the chopped saeujeot and its liquid. Salted shrimp, not soy sauce, is the traditional seasoning here: it salts the broth without darkening it, and it adds a fermented depth that plain salt cannot.
  5. Divide the cooked rice between two heavy earthenware bowls, ladle the boiling soup and sprouts over, and return each bowl to a high flame for 2 minutes until it is boiling furiously. Crack an egg into each, add the kimchi and the gochugaru, and take the bowls to the table still bubbling.
  6. Each person stirs the egg through so it sets in threads, then adds the scallions, crumbled gim and a few drops of sesame oil. In Jeonju, where this dish belongs, it is eaten at any hour but especially in the small hours of the morning and the morning after drinking, which is what it is famous for.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Keep reading: what marine & briny, salinity, umami mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

See how this dish fits your palate — take the short taste test →

Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.