Is summer too hot for you? Do you feel worn out from the heat?? Well, guess how Koreans fix that?! They stand in line for hours in front of restaurants in Seoul to eat a pot of piping hot Samgyetang – Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup!!!
Samgyetang(삼계탕) is probably one of the most popular “energy” foods in Korean cuisine. And some people, like my husband, swear by it. When he has symptoms of allergy (stuff nose, runny nose, itchy eyes and sneezes), he says it’s actually not allergies but it’s because his body is cold inside. Not cold, in the sense of being chilly cold that you need a sweater but cold in the oriental medicine sense. It’s kind of feeling lethargic, weak and tired. Anyway, if he has a pot of this Korean ginseng chicken soup for dinner then he will be all better next day!
Now, if you were in Korea right now in August with 85% humidity with over 30°C/90°F temperatures, you would not enjoy cooking samgyetang at home in the hot summer. And that’s why so many Koreans stand in line in front of restaurants to eat the soup. For at least 3 days of the summer – first day of summer (chobok), middle of summer(jungbok) and last day of summer(malbok) in the lunar calendar – Koreans must eat Samgyetang to beat the heat.
So in support of people back in Korea, we decided to visit a local Korean restaurant in Santa Clara called BN Chicken to get our fill on Samgyetang. If you like chicken, it’s a great place to eat because they have fried chicken, noodles in chicken soup (dak kalguksu) and even chicken katsu. The samgyetang chicken was a little overcooked for my taste but the broth was really hearty and yummy. And their side dishes are all pretty good too.
Back in 2011, I posted a recipe on how to make yeong gye baeksuk.
Making samgyetang is very similar to making yeong gye baeksuk except for adding ginseng and stuffing the cavity. So please see my old yeong gye baeksuk post for more detailed cooking instructions on how to prepare Korean chicken soup and also discussions on differences between samgyetang (삼계탕), yeong gye baeksuk (영계백숙) and dak baeksuk (닭백숙).
Samgyetang (삼계탕) - Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 1 cornish hen (2-3 lbs / 1-1.3 kg)
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 medium onion
- 1 dried or fresh Korean Ginseng (substitute American Ginseng)
- 3 jujube dates (대추)
- 3 ginkgo nuts (optional)
- 2 green onions (chopped)
- 1 cup soaked sweet rice (optional - soak about 1 hr)
- 6 cups water
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Rinse and clean chicken. Cut off wing tips and tail end (see my yeong gye baeksuk post)
- Stuff chicken with sweet rice (optional) and garlic.
- Add about 7 cups water, chicken, whole onion, ginseng and jujubes to pot. Optionally add ginko nuts.
- Bring to boil and then simmer for 50 min or so until meat falls off the bone.
- Season soup with salt and pepper.
- Garnish with chopped green onions and serve.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
So where ever you are this summer, I hope you will get to enjoy samgyetang one way or another!
Thank you to BN Chicken for allowing me to take photos of the food. Visit bnchicken.com for info.
I am going to try your recipe but I have a question to you if I don’t have a fresh ginsing and I have dry ginsing it’s okay to used . Thanks
Oh yes! We usually use dry ginseng so it will be perfectly fine! thank you.
Yes – but you can’t eat dried ginseng. It’s like wood.
Summers in Sacramento are deadly hot and dry. Last week it was warm so I bought a game hen just to be ready. It turned out that my favorite Korean market had beautiful fresh ginseng at a reasonable price (yes, $40/lb is a reasonable price!), so I felt ready to go. Today it is raining and cold; I am freezing, probably have to turn on the heat. The best laid plans . . .
Well, the hen will stay in the freezer, and I guess the ginseng will join it, waiting for hotter days to come!
I’ve made this before and at the market I chatted with a nice Korean lady who “taught” me how to make this – exactly the way i already do! The good news is that my pronunciation of samgyetang was good enough for her to knw what i was talking about. I even pulled of jeotgal. Maybe some day i won’t be embarrassing to shop with! 🙂
Hi Judith!! You are doing what Koreans like to do – beat the heat with heat!! For a moment there I thought you said you bought a live hen – haha. And you are never an embarrassment to shop with. Miss those days… 😍 Enjoy and have a healthy summer!!
Actually – I have 3 live hens, 3 babies 4 weeks old now. They aren’t destined for the soup pot, tough! Maybe see you when you get back, if you are up for a drive to Sacramento!
I just saw a story about Samgyetang that referred to a version that uses a broth (besides the chicken,etc.) that contained over 40 different medicinal herbs. Do you maybe have a recipe for one like that or a link to a recipe? Yours looks very good but I would like to try one made with the ‘fortified’ broth.
Thanks.
I heard about such a version but have not yet tried it. I know you will want to first boil the herbs in water and make the broth then add chicken and cook it. There are ready made tea bags for samgyetang that includes herbs like mulberry wood chips, acanthopanax bark, milk vetch root,Korean Angelica root, jujube dates that you can buy but they only contain about 7 herbs. I will keep it in mind and share on my blog if I find a recipe with 40+ herbs. Thanks so much for asking.
Are we supposed to chop the onion or put it in whole?
As the recipe says, you put the onion in WHOLE in step 3. Thank you so much for asking!
Also, should I cover the pot while the chicken is simmering?
Yes.
If you’d like you can leave the lid open a little bit for the steam to escape but should be fine totally covered. Good luck!
I hope to try this recipe very soon. It looks fantastic!
You should definitely try it!! It is so hearty and delicious. Enjoy!