{"id":29708,"title":"Authentic Samgyetang – Ginseng Chicken Soup","modified":"2025-02-12T10:30:55+01:00","plain":"The recipe for the famous Korean Ginseng broth that will give you energy in both winter and summer!\n\n\n\nIs it an Asian broth? A dish like Chinese hot pot? A rice porridge? Samgyetang is all of these things, but at the same time, it's not. \u201cThanks Marc, I'm much clearer on my understanding of the recipe now\u201d \u27a1\ufe0f Don't pretend you're not going to hit the \u201cGo to Recipe\u201d button in the next 5 seconds.     \n\n\n\nMore seriously, it's a classic of Korean cuisine that, like kimchi jjigae, deserves to be much better known. \n\n\n\nOne thing is certain, Koreans know how to attract attention with their beautiful colors\n\n\n\nWhat is Samgyetang?\n\n\n\nGenerally, looking at the etymology of a dish like this is the best way to properly define it. Samgyetang (\uc0bc\uacc4\ud0d5) derives its name from three elements: Sam (\uc0bc) for ginseng (insam \uc778\uc0bc), gye (\uacc4) which means chicken, and tang (\ud0d5) which means soup.  \n\n\n\nIt's very popular in Korea, being part of Boyangsik (\ubcf4\uc591\uc2dd), the name for foods known to strengthen and revitalize the body. Samgyetang, in particular, is renowned for helping combat fatigue, stabilizing blood pressure, strengthening the immune system, and providing many other benefits. \n\n\n\nPurists insist that to be \u201cauthentic\u201d, this dish must contain these 3 elements (soup, ginseng, chicken) and I'll add a small detail: the soup contains glutinous rice, which during cooking will produce an effect similar to, but not quite, a rice porridge. This is ultimately why, in my opinion, we make the distinction between broth and soup here because the final texture will be quite different due to the disintegrated rice that will thicken the flavored liquid. \n\n\n\nBeyond these basic elements, some ingredients like jujube (Chinese date) are found more often, but there's no strict rule, and in Korea, you'll find thousands of variations, sometimes greatly departing from the typical appearance of the dish. Chefs will maximize culinary research and complexity in one or another of the components (most often, the broth with Dashi, miso, ...) \n\n\n\nWhen to Eat Samgyetang in Korea?\n\n\n\nIn Korea, even though Samgyetang is a hot soup, it's very popular in summer. Koreans often say: \u201cYou fight heat with heat!\u201d  \n\n\n\nThey assume that in summer, blood circulates more near the skin, but less around internal organs, which cools them and can lead to a decrease in \u201cappetite and\u201d energy. Eating a hot dish like Samgyetang, rich in nutritious ingredients, would help restart blood circulation to the organs and regain \u201cappetite and\u201d energy.  \n\n\n\nAdditionally, it helps lower body temperature by inducing sweating. That's why Koreans love to eat Samgyetang during \u201csambok\u201d, the three hottest days of the year.  \n\n\n\nTwo jjigae served in ttukbaegi (source: lovesera.com)\n\n\n\nDuring this period, Samgyetang restaurants are often packed with people seeking a bowl of this comforting soup. It will generally be served in a ttukbaegi (\ub69d\ubc30\uae30), which is an earthenware pot used for Korean dishes like jjigae and gukbap, which retains heat and allows dishes to be served piping hot. It's a type of onggi (\uc639\uae30), traditional Korean pottery used for tableware and storage.  \n\n\n\nHow to Serve Homemade Samgyetang?\n\n\n\nGenerally, it will be served in individual bowls accompanied by banchan such as japchae, mung bean salad, sesame spinach, kimchi, ... with dipping sauces on the side\n\n\n\nThe Main Ingredients of Samgyetang\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe chicken: I specify that it should be small because we cook it whole, but depending on the size of your pot, choose one that fits. It's not too important except for aesthetic or practical reasons \n\n\n\nThe jujubes: famous Chinese dates, they are easily found dried in Asian supermarkets. They bring both flavor and benefits according to traditional Korean and Chinese medicine, but they are not essential for the success of the dish  \n\n\n\nGlutinous rice: Here, ideally you should use short-grain glutinous rice. But I've also tested the recipe with sushi rice and it worked very well \n\n\n\nShort-grain glutinous rice\n\n\n\nGinseng: This root is the star of the dish! Preferably fresh but dried works very well too, it brings an inimitable taste to the soup \n\n\n\nThe light soy sauce: essential to bring umami to the dipping sauce\n\n\n\nRice vinegar: like soy sauce, we'll use it to create a delicious sweet and sour dipping sauce\n\n\n\nSesame oil: here, you need toasted sesame oil. Its stronger flavor is essential for an authentic taste \n\n\n\n\n\n\tAuthentic Samgyetang - Ginseng Chicken Soup\n\t\t\n\t\tThe recipe for the famous Korean Ginseng broth that will give you energy in both winter and summer!\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t1 Small chicken3 Ginseng roots (Fresh or dried)10 cloves garlic (Peeled)6 Jujubes100 g glutinous rice (Short-grain (use Vietnamese sticky rice, not Thai), uncooked)2 stems Green onion (thinly sliced)1.5 liter of water (Or enough to cover the chicken)Sesame dipping sauce1 tablespoon salt1 pinch black pepper1 teaspoon of sesame seeds (crushed)2 tablespoons of sesame oil (toasted)Sweet and sour dipping sauce3 tablespoons light soy sauce2 tablespoons rice vinegar1 teaspoon of honey0.5 onion (In small pieces)1 green chili pepper (In small pieces)Banchan to accompany (optional)Mung bean sprout saladKorean sesame spinachKimchi\t\n\t\n\t\tRinse the rice several times, then soak it in cold water for 1 hour.Thoroughly clean the chicken and vegetables. Rub the chicken with salt, then rinse (optional). Stuff the chicken with rice, garlic cloves, jujubes, and ginseng roots. If there's too much rice, put the excess in the pot Tie the chicken legs togetherPlace the chicken in a suitable pot and cover it almost completely with water.Bring the water to a boil and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes.Reduce to low heat, cover and simmer for another 30 minutes.Mix the sesame dipping sauce ingredients in a small container.Mix the sweet and sour dipping sauce ingredients in a small container.Serve in clay pots if you have them, garnish with green onion and accompany with banchan of your choice.To enjoy alone or with family, place the chicken in its broth in the center, serve the broth in individual bowls and cut pieces of chicken to give to guests. Dip these pieces in the dipping sauces, and enjoy with the banchan\t\n\t\n\t\tFeel free to enhance the broth with seasonings of your choice, or to diversify the side dishes and dipping sauces\n\t\n\t\n\t\tMain course, Soups and brothsKoreanHuile de s\u00e9same, Poulet, Riz, Sauce soja light, Vinaigre de riz\t\n\n\n\n\n\nCulinary sources\n\n\n\nFor the dipping sauces, I used those from the blog Maangchi","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}