| Korean name | |
| Hanja: | 冷국 |
| Rr: | naengguk |
| Mr: | naengkuk |
| Koreanipa: | pronounced as /ko/ |
Naengguk[1] or chilled soup refers to all kinds of cold guk (Korean: 국, soups) in Korean cuisine, mainly eaten in summer. It is also called chan'guk (Korean: 찬국), which literally means "cold soup" in pure Korean, while the term naengguk is a combination of a hanja word (Chinese: 冷, "cold") and a pure Korean word (Korean: 국, "soup").[2]
The first historical record on naengguk appears in a poem written by Yi Kyu-bo (1168–1241), a high officer of the Goryeo period (918–1392). In the poem, naengguk is referred to as sungaeng (Korean: 순갱), which literally means sunchaeguk (Korean: 순채국), i.e., soup made with sunchae (Brasenia schreberi). Yi praised its clear and plain taste, saying it made usual dishes seem vulgar.[3] [4]
Naengguk is largely divided into two categories according to seasoning and ingredients. The first category is made by mixing chilled water and vinegar to give a sour and sweet taste, such as miyeok naengguk (Korean: 미역냉국) made with wakame, oi naengguk (Korean: 오이냉국) made with cucumber, pa naengguk (Korean: 파냉국) made with spring onions, maneul naengguk (Korean: 마늘냉국) made with garlic, and gim naengguk (Korean: 김냉국) made with gim or nori. The other category is made to supplement health and has rich tastes such as chilled soup made with chicken, sesame, or soybeans.