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Herbs & Cultures

Korean hanbang and the Donguibogam →

Samgyetang, chicken soup with ginseng

A young chicken stuffed with glutinous rice, ginseng, jujube and garlic: the Korean soup for the hottest days of the year.

Traditional use

Time
1 hour 30 minutes, plus 1 hour soaking
Makes
2 people
Image of Samgyetang, chicken soup with ginseng
wizdata · CC0

In Korea samgyetang is eaten on the three hottest days of summer (sambok), to replenish what you lose by sweating and working. The cookbook Joseon yorijaebeop from 1917 already describes a chicken stuffed with glutinous rice and ginseng powder. Since the 1960s a whole ginseng root has gone in.

Ingredients

  • 1 poussin or small young chicken (500–700 g)
  • 4 tbsp glutinous rice
  • 1 fresh or dried Korean ginseng root
  • 3–4 dried jujubes
  • 6 cloves of garlic
  • About 1.5 litres water
  • Salt, black pepper and finely sliced spring onion to add at the table

Step by step

  1. Soak the glutinous rice in water for an hour and drain.
  2. Rinse the chicken inside and out and pat dry.
  3. Stuff the chicken with the rice, ginseng, jujubes and garlic. Cross the legs through a small cut in the skin so the stuffing stays in.
  4. Put the chicken in a pan, add water until it is just covered and bring to the boil. Skim off the foam.
  5. Simmer with the lid on for about an hour, until the meat falls off the bone.
  6. Serve the chicken with its soup in a deep bowl. Everyone adds salt, pepper and spring onion at the table.

Tips

  • Dried jujubes and fresh ginseng are sold in Korean and Chinese supermarkets.

Registry

Herbs in this recipe

Read more about effects and safety on each herb’s page.

  • Caution

    Asia · Herb · № 36

    Asian ginseng

    Panax ginseng (ook P. quinquefolius)

    Research consists mostly of small, short studies; there is little evidence of health effects.

    Chinese medical traditions+3
  • Caution

    Asia · Food · № 636

    Jujube (red date)

    Ziziphus jujuba

    Traditionally attributed effects: sweet and strengthening in fatigue, anaemia and low energy; builds strength and blood and softens herbal dishes.

    Chinese medical traditions+2
  • Caution

    Africa · Food · № 12

    Garlic

    Allium sativum

    A food with a long history of use. Supplement research suggests only limited effects and does not establish a treatment.

    Ancient Egyptian medicine+7Folklore

Cultures and traditions

Where the herbs come from

The herbs in this recipe also appear in these traditions.