Samgyetang
Samgyetang — literally 'ginseng chicken soup' — is Korea's great restorative, a whole young chicken stuffed with glutinous rice and simmered with ginseng, garlic and jujube until the meat falls from the bone. Counter-intuitively, it is eaten most in the sweltering heat of summer, on the three hottest days known as boknal, following the old logic of fighting heat with heat to replenish energy sapped by the weather. Unlike the fiery reds of much Korean cooking, this is a gentle, milky, deeply nourishing dish. The broth is left almost unseasoned so the flavours of chicken, ginseng and sweet rice come through clean — salt and pepper are set on the table for each person to add. Use the smallest young chicken you can find, and simmer it low and slow so the rice inside turns soft and the meat becomes spoon-tender.
Whole stuffed chicken
Filled with glutinous rice
Ginseng & jujube
A restorative, aromatic broth
Summer restorative
Eaten on the hottest days
Seasoned at the table
Mild broth, salt to taste
Ingredients 4 servings
- 1 whole small chicken, about 1.3 kg, cleaned and excess fat trimmed
- 120 g glutinous (sweet) rice, soaked 1 hour and drained
- 8 garlic cloves (3 for the cavity, 5 for the pot)
- 2 fresh ginseng roots (or 4 dried ginseng slices)
- 5 dried jujubes (Korean red dates)
- 4 chestnuts, peeled (optional)
- 3 spring onions (2 halved for the pot, 1 sliced to finish)
- 3 cm fresh ginger, sliced
- 2 l water
- Salt and black pepper, to serve
How to make it
- 1SOAK THE RICE: rinse the glutinous rice and soak it in water for at least 1 hour, then drain — soaked rice cooks evenly inside the bird.
- 2PREP THE CHICKEN: rinse the chicken inside and out, trim off the excess fat and skin at the neck and tail, and pat dry.
- 3STUFF: pack the cavity about two-thirds full with the drained rice (it swells as it cooks), then push in 3 garlic cloves, one ginseng root and a jujube; do not overfill, so the rice can absorb liquid.
- 4CLOSE IT UP: cross the legs and tie them shut with kitchen string, or thread a skewer through the skin, so the filling stays inside during the long simmer.
- 5SIMMER: put the chicken breast-up in a deep pot, add the water, the remaining garlic, ginseng, jujubes, chestnuts, halved spring onions and sliced ginger; bring to a boil, then skim off the foam.
- 6COOK LOW AND SLOW: lower to a gentle simmer, cover, and cook 45-60 minutes until the meat is meltingly tender and the rice inside is soft — the broth will turn cloudy and fragrant.
- 7SERVE: lift the whole chicken into a deep bowl, ladle over plenty of broth, and scatter the sliced spring onion; serve with small dishes of salt and black pepper so each person seasons the mild broth to taste, tearing the tender meat straight into the soup.
Nutritional info
per serving (~400 ml)
Estimated nutritional values.
Pairs perfectly with
