Samgyetang, Ginseng Chicken Soup, 삼계탕 (蔘鷄湯)

Samgyetang, Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup, 삼계탕 (蔘鷄湯)

蔘: 인삼 삼 (Ginseng: Sam) , 鷄: 닭 계 (Chicken: Gye), 湯: 탕 (Soup: Tang)

Samgyetang. One of the historical dishes from Korea.

My dad took me to this Samgyetang restaurant in South Korea, where we lived every summer. They serve a shot of ginseng liquor to every guest, even if you are a kid. The ginseng shot is for health, not for drunk purposes, so my dad always led me to drink the ginseng shot first before a meal.

Ginseng warms your body from the inside out, as well as chicken. Usually, in summertime (when the weather is hot), our outer body is hot, so our inner body is very busy to cool the body down. So drinking or eating cold food makes our tummy even more colder. That is why people get sick easily with the food in summer. Some smart Koreans figured it out and recommended eating warm and hot food during summertime.

So traditionally, we eat Samgyetang 3 times during the summer. The beginning, the middle, and the end.

Protein wasn’t always available for everybody back then in Korea, even 50 or 60 years ago. So Samgyetang helped provide strength through challenging, hot weather. It is considered a stamina food. 😉

I understand the Samgyetang herbal ingredient kit is hard to find in some places, so here are the links I found where you can buy from the internet.

Amazon’s Samgyetang Herbal Ingredient Kit

Hmart’s Samgyetang Herval Ingredients Kit

You might find a better website that carries these ingredients, but I’m only willing to share that website that I can trust, and the price makes sense.

Also, you can make this recipe without the kit. Just get fresh/dried ginseng and dried jujube. Those are the key herbal ingredients for Samgyetang.

I hope you try my Samgyetang recipe one day!

Samgyetang, Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup, 삼계탕 (蔘鷄湯)

---

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

• Author: Seonkyoung Longest
• Total Time: 2 hours 30 mins

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

Description

---

Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 10 cups Cold water
• 4 Cloves garlic, 2 are smashed, 2 are whole
• 3 Green onions, 2 cut into halves, 1 chopped for garnish
• 1 Samgyetang herbal ingredient kit or 1 medium size ginseng root and 3 jujubes
  
• 2 lb. Whole young chicken or 2 cornish hens
• 1/3 cup Sweet rice, rinsed and soaked in cold water for 1 hour, drained

Dipping Salt

• 1Tbs. Sea salt
• 1 tsp. Black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. Toasted sesame seeds, smashed with fingers

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

---

Instructions

1. In a large pot, add water, 2 smashed garlic, 2 green onions that cut into halves and Samgyetang herbal ingredients. Cover, bring it to boil and reduce heat to medium low, simmer for 10 minutes.
   
2. Meanwhile, let’s prepare chicken. Trim some fat on edge of chicken and wing tips with kitchen scissors.
   
3. Stuff chicken with 2 whole garlic cloves and sweet rice. It should be stuffed only 3/4 amount.
   Close openings with skewers or strings.
   
4. Place stuffed chicken into simmering broth with breast side up. Cover, increase heat to high; bring it to boil and reduce heat to medium. Simmer for 1 hour or until chicken is fully cooked and tender.
   
5. Transfer to a serving bowl both chicken and soup. Garnish with chopped green onion and serve with dipping salt.
   

To Make Porridge with Leftover Samgyetang

1. Take leftover meats from chicken bones and take solid ingredients out from broth. Add 1 cup to 2 cups of cold sweet or stick rice (depending on how much soup’s left..) and simmer for 30 minutes.
   
2. Constantly stirring to prevent a burnt bottom.
   Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with chopped green onion, sesame seeds and sesame oil.
   

• Prep Time: 1 hour
• Cook Time: 1 hour 30 mins

Recipe Card powered by