Yeong Gye Baeksuk – Korean chicken soup for the soul.. I have been making yeong gye baeksuk or young gye baeksook (영계백숙) for over 20 years now – ever since I got married. It’s my husband’s favorite soup and according to my mother-in-law, yeong gye baeksuk is one of the best foods for him. She also told me a whole list of other foods but that’s probably worth a whole different blog…
What I do know is that whenever my husband feels worn out, tired or has terrible allergies, this Korean chicken soup definitely helps him recover pretty quickly. It’s also another one of my daughter’s favorite and she’s been asking for it so here it is.
There are mainly 3 variations of the clear Korean chicken soup having various names:
- Yeong gye baeksuk(영계백숙) – soup made with young chicken without any additional herbal ingredients
- Dak baeksuk (닭백숙) – soup made with adult chicken without any additional herbal ingredients
- Sam gye tang(삼계탕) – soup made with young chicken using ginseng, dates and sweet rice stuffing
As you can imagine, sam gye tang is a lot more involved but yeong gye baeksuk is quite simple to do. BTW, here’s my Instant Pot Chicken Soup recipe in case you want to use your pressure cooker.
Difficulty: easy Servings: 4 Prep time: 15 min Cooking time: 35-40 min
Ingredients
- 1 cornish game hen (or young chicken 2-3 lbs) – should be thawed in fridge over night if frozen
- 1 whole head of garlic, peeled (or 8-10 cloves of garlic)
- 1 whole onion, peeled
- 3 green onions
- salt and pepper
- sauce for chicken – 1 T dark soy sauce(진간장) + 1 tsp vinegar
Directions
1. Cornish game hen works best. It is tender and has less fat. If you can buy fresh, unfrozen ones that’s great. If not, buy the frozen ones and it’s fine as long as you thaw it fully. If cornish hens are not available you can also buy small, young chicken. Best way to thaw is to leave in the refrigerator overnight or 10 hrs. If you have less time, you can also put the chicken(still wrapped) in cold water to thaw for 3-4 hrs. If you are really short on time, you can also thaw the chicken in the microwave but it’s really not recommended.
2. Cut off the wing tips, neck and the tail end. My mom told me that the wing tips and the tail end are bad for you so why eat it since there’s not much to eat there anyway. If the chicken has any giblets inside the stomach, discard it. There may be quite a bit of fat near the breast area or near the bottom, trim the fat as much as you can. Wash the chicken well under running water and pat it dry.
2. Prepare the garlic – if you have a whole bulb, soak it in water and peel them.
3. Peel the onion and leave it whole.
4. Add chicken, garlic, onion and 7 C of cold water to pot and bring to a boil.
5. Simmer at medium low or low heat for 35 min for smaller chicken (less than 2 lb) and 40 min for chicken larger than 2 lbs. Check if chicken is fully cooked by piercing the area between the thigh and the belly to see if any blood comes out. Cook a few minutes longer if you see any redness.
6. Take the chicken out onto a plate and let it cool a couple minutes. Chop up the green onions into small pieces (1/3 in). Serve the soup, rice, pieces of the chicken and green onions in a bowl. Serve with salt and pepper so it can be seasoned at the table. Also make some vinegar-soy sauce for dipping the chicken meat if people want to eat the meat alone without the soup. You can also serve chicken with salt and pepper and people can dip the chicken pieces in salt/pepper mix instead of the soy sauce dip. Finally serve some kimchi and dried roasted seaweed and you have a complete, delicious and healthy dinner!!
Tip: Do NOT overcook the chicken. Smaller the chicken, the shorter the cooking time should be. Keep testing by poking the chicken once 35 min. has past. Overcooking the chicken will make it taste mushy and pasty.
Yeong gye baeksuk – Korean Chicken Soup for the Soul
Ingredients
- 1 cornish game hen (or young chicken 2-3 lbs) – should be thawed in fridge over night if frozen
- 1 whole head of garlic , peeled (or 8-10 cloves of garlic)
- 1 whole onion , peeled
- 3 green onions
- salt and pepper
Dipping Sauce for Chicken
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp white vinegar
Instructions
- Best way to thaw is to leave in the refrigerator overnight or 10 hrs. If you have less time, you can also put the chicken(still wrapped) in cold water to thaw for 3-4 hrs.
- Cut off the wing tips, neck and the tail end and discard.There may be quite a bit of fat near the breast area or near the bottom, trim the fat as much as you can. Wash the chicken well under running water and pat it dry.
- Prepare the garlic – if you have a whole bulb, soak it in water and peel them.
- Peel the onion and leave it whole.
- Add chicken, garlic, onion and 7 C of cold water to pot and bring to a boil.
- Simmer at medium low or low heat for 35 min for smaller chicken (less than 2 lb) and 40 min for chicken larger than 2 lbs. Check if chicken is fully cooked by piercing the area between the thigh and the belly to see if any blood comes out. Cook a few minutes longer if you see any redness.
- Take the chicken out onto a plate and let it cool a couple minutes. Chop up the green onions into small pieces (1/3 in). Serve the soup, rice, pieces of the chicken and green onions in a bowl. Serve with salt and pepper so it can be seasoned at the table. Also make some vinegar-soy sauce for dipping the chicken meat if people want to eat the meat alone without the soup.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Enjoy!
I unforftunately had a mild stroke earlier this year and my energy has been ridiculously low ever since. Was looking for something to make with fresh ginger and stumbled upon this recipe. I have it cooking on the stove now and it smells wonderful. Hoping I get good results like your husband. Thank you for posting.
Oh so sorry to hear that. Yes, chicken soup will definitely give you more energy – hope you enjoyed it. Thank you!
This is going to sound so obvious, but I don’t cook much so for the rice, you cook that separately and then you throw it in when everything is done?
Yes, generally for Baeksuk, Koreans cook rice separately and then add it to the finished soup. If you are making Samgyetang (the one with Ginseng), you stuff the chicken with uncooked rice or sweet rice and then cook it altogether in the soup.
This recipe was perfect! Brought me right back to my childhood and was super easy and delicious! Thank you!
So happy to hear it! It is my go to whenever I don’t want to think about cooking.. haha.. and also when we are low on energy. You are welcome and thank you for the 5 stars!!
Sorry for being a dufus, but do I discard the onion and garlic when serving? Hoping to make this for dinner with my parents.
Oh no – don’t feel bad at all. I should have been more clear. Yes, please discard onion and garlic before serving. And serve with some fresh chopped green onions. So sweet of you to make it for your parents. Enjoy! 💕
Do you know if i can make this in an instant pot? What setting and cooking time would be used?
I have not used an instant pot yet (plan to get one very soon – which brand do you use? what’s your favorite?) but after some quick research on the functions and how they cook, I think just using the SOUP function should work fine. Just 1/2 the onion and add onions, garlic to the pot first, then the chicken. Then water. Water should cover the chicken. Or you can just cook (not slow cook) for about 25 min? Please try it and I would LOVE to hear how it turned out. Please stay tuned as I will be adding instant pot recipes soon! Thanks for asking.