Samgyetang is a healthy soup made with ginseng and chicken. It’s a traditional dish usually consumed during hot summer days in Korea!
Samgyetang, or literally, Ginseng Chicken Soup has been one of the dishes that our family has been eating lately. Ever since my wife gave birth to our second son, her recovery food needs to be light on the stomach and low in sodium which is why this dish is perfect!
The soup is a little earthy and sweet because of the combination of the ginseng and jujubee. The nutrients that fill the broth alone have greatly helped my wife regain her strength, vitality, and immune system after her pregnancy!
Apart from the significance of this dish personally to my family, this is also something that Koreans look for during the hottest days of summer. While this might seem unusual, elders believe that you need a hot soup to balance the heat inside your body with the heat outside.
Honestly, this is a super easy dish to make at home any time of the year, but there are samgyetang restaurants in Korea that specialize in this dish and people line up for it, especially on hot days!
Traditional Way of Making Samgyetang
Traditionally, samgyetang is cooked using small chicken, stuffed with soaked glutinous rice, and then boiled in a broth or water infused with ginseng, dates, and garlic.
After boiling for 40 minutes to 1 hour, you get a tender chicken in a rich and nourishing soup that is slightly thickened because of the rice. It’s one whole meal good for 1-2 people and you finish every bit of it as you go. By the end of the meal, you will definitely feel much more refreshed!
Samgyetang Ingredients
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Typically there are only three herbs you need for samgyetang—ginseng, dates, and garlic. While those three are essential to the dish, some people add ginger, chestnut, ginkgo nuts, etc. to make the soup richer.
Ginseng usually comes dried or fresh. If you can find fresh ones, feel free to use them. However, dried ginseng is usually easier to find here in the US. Once this is cooked, they turn bitter so you need to discard them.
Dates, or jujubee, also come in fresh and dried. Usually, we would use the dried ones because they are easier to store for a long period. Once this is boiled, you can eat it as it regains its soft and sweet texture.
For the garlic, use whole peeled cloves for the soup!
While the ingredients are few, they may take quite some time to find. My mom would usually get them from Korea, but the Asian markets here would sometimes carry them too. No worries though, packs of these would be good for a few more batches of cooking, so you can simply store them in the fridge for the next time you crave the soup again!
Also, if you ever chance upon a Samgyetang kit—these already have all the ingredients you need in one packaging, good for one meal. This is an easier route you can take so you can remake this soup asap!
How to make easy Ginseng Chicken Soup?
The recipe I will be sharing today is how my mom sometimes makes samgyetang. It’s an easy version that uses chicken leg quarters. She finds these parts easier to cook and to eat. This is very far from traditional but it personally hits home because there is nothing like a mother’s cooking!
In a deep pot, place the chicken, dried ginseng, dried dates, and garlic. Fill the pot with water and let it boil for an hour or until the soup has reduced to 3/4.
Then, remove any scum floating on top as you boil and check if the chicken is tender. There is no need to season the soup because you can personally season it to your liking once served.
If you want to go extra, you can add bits of squid and abalone just like my mom. This is an additional protein you can have but is also light on the stomach.
To serve, garnish your samgyetang with chopped onion and scallions. It is better not to add it in while cooking so that it stays crunchy instead of mushy.
If you are feeling extra, serve the soup in a hot tteukbaegi to keep it warm as you eat it.
How to eat Ginseng Chicken Soup?
Usually, samgyetang would come with a dipping sauce. There are three kinds:
- Salt and pepper
- Salt, pepper and sesame oil
- Soy sauce with onion
Aside from the dipping sauce, this dish can be paired with rice, radish kimchi, or napa cabbage kimchi. During my wife’s pregnancy recovery though, we had these with various non-spicy side dishes like water kimchi, seasoned spinach, and eggplant.
This is super healthy yet super simple to make. Whether you are sick, recovering, or just feeling super hot or super cold—this is a healing soup you need to have!
Other Korean soup recipes you might like:
Make sure to leave a rating, a comment, or tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Tiktok when you chop them up! Yeobosayo!
Ginseng Chicken Soup (Samgyetang)
Equipment
- 1 Big Deep Pot
Ingredients
- 4 pcs Big Leg Quarters
- 1 cup Jujubee Around 15 pcs
- 1 bulb Garlic Peeled
- Handful of Ginseng
- 2-3 liters Water Or until your pot is filled
- Abalone or Octopus Bits Optional
- Onion and Scallions Chopped, For garnish
Instructions
- Place the chicken, ginseng, jujubee, and garlic in a big pot. Let it boil for 1 hr or until the broth has reduced to 3/4.
- Skim off any excess fat or scum that floats as you cook. Check the chicken for tenderness and doneness, then serve.
- To serve, add the onion and scallion at the bottom of your bowl then top with meat and soup. Pair with rice, salt and pepper dipping sauce, and banchan, and enjoy!
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