Samgyetang (Chicken Soup with Ginseng)

Koreans flock to this hot soup dish in the dead heat of summer to combat the summer heat. Does that make any sense? Well, it didn't to me until I was pestered to try it by my coworkers during my time in Korea. It's a very healthy and invigorating soup made with a baby chicken stuffed with ginseng, daechu (red dates), and glutinous rice, and cooked in lightly salted boiling water. Enjoy with rice and other banchan or side dishes.

• Preparation Time: 10 mins
• Cooking Time: 55 mins
• Total Time: 1 hr 5 mins
• Calories: 281 Calories

Ingredients

• 1 pinch salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 8 cups water
• 2 green onions, diced
• ½ cup glutinous rice (chapssal)
• 3 chestnuts (bam)
• 2 pieces ginseng root (insam)
• 2 dried Korean dates (daechu)
• 1 Cornish hen, giblets removed
• 4 cloves garlic, or more to taste

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Soak rice in a bowl of water for 30 minutes. Drain.

Step 2

Stuff drained rice, chestnuts, ginseng root, and dates into the hen. Sew up the cavity with cotton kitchen twine. Place hen in a large pot and pour in 8 cups water. Add garlic cloves.

Step 3

Bring water to a boil; simmer over medium heat, skimming off any scum that rises to the surface, until hen is no longer pink at the bone and the juices run clear, about 40 minutes.

Step 4

Stir green onions into the pot; simmer until hen is very tender, about 10 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, near the bone, should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Season with salt and pepper.