Samgyetang Chicken Soup With Ginseng Recipes

SAMGYETANG (GINSENG CHICKEN SOUP)

Steps:

• Clean the chicken. Do not cut off the neck and/or tail, if they are still attached. They help keep the rice inside the cavity. Place the cleaned chicken on a cutting board or a large plate. Clean the inside of the cavity with a paper towel to remove any blood. Fold the attached neck into the cavity to close the hole.
• Stuff the cavity with the sweet rice and a couple of garlic cloves, leaving room (about 1/4 of the cavity) for the rice to expand as it cooks. You can also cut off some offshoots of the ginseng and add to the cavity if you like.
• To keep the rice inside the cavity while being cooked, use of one of these two methods: (1) Make a small cut through the thick skin part between one thigh and the cavity opening, but not too close to the edge. Then, use your finger to expand the hole enough to fit the end part of a leg. Bring the other leg over, and insert the end part through the hole to keep the legs crossed together, tucking the tail in to close the opening (see the photos above); or (2) Simply cross the legs and tie together with kitchen twine. Tightly close the cavity with a toothpick if necessary.
• In a medium size pot, place the chicken and add 5 to 6 cups (or enough to cover most of the chicken) of water or chicken stock. Add the garlic, ginger, jujubes, and ginseng. If the chicken came with the neck that's been cut off, add to the pot. Also add the extra sweet rice to thicken the soup or in a herb bag to cook separately, if desired.
• Bring it to a boil over medium high heat. Skim off the foam on top. Cover, and boil for 15 minutes. You can add more water/broth if needed. Reduce the heat to medium low and boil, covered, for about 25 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken. Turn the heat off and rest the chicken in the pot for about 10 minutes. See note 3.
• Serve piping hot with the chopped scallions and salt and pepper on the side so each person can season to taste.

SAMGYETANG (GINSENG CHICKEN SOUP)

Steps:

• Rinse the rice, then cover it with water and soak for at least 2 hours, or overnight. At the same time, soak the ginseng (if using dried; there's no need to soak fresh) and the red dates, separately.
• When rice, dried ginseng and jujubes have finished soaking, drain and rinse them. Remove the giblets from the hens and rub about 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt all over each, inside the cavity and underneath the skin.
• Put a couple of spoonfuls of soaked rice into each cavity, then add the ginseng root, jujubes and garlic, and finish stuffing with more rice. Some cooks truss the birds, but the rice will expand during cooking and keep most of the stuffing inside the cavity.
• Place the two hens and any remaining rice in a pot just big enough to hold them both. Add the white parts of the scallions. Fill the pot with 8 cups water or more, if needed, to cover most of the chicken.
• Cover, bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer gently for 1 hour, until the meat falls easily off the bone.
• Transfer each chicken to a large soup bowl and add the broth. Sprinkle chopped green scallions on top, and salt to taste at the table.

SAMGYETANG (CHICKEN SOUP WITH GINSENG)

Steps:

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

SAMGYETANG (GINSENG CHICKEN SOUP)

Steps:

• Wash the chicken (including the cavity) thoroughly under running cold water.
• Stuff the chicken cavity with sweet rice, ginseng, garlic cloves, jujube, gingko nuts, and chest nuts. Cross the chicken legs and tie them with a cotton tie. Alternatively, you can make a slit on one side of the chicken thigh skin and put the other leg through it. (It sounds difficult but it's not!) This is to minimise the stuffed ingredients falling out.
• Pour the water into a large pot and add the stuffed chicken. Boil the pot over medium high heat, covered, for 20 mins. Reduce the heat to medium to medium low and boil further until the chicken is fully cooked (about 30 mins further). Also, make sure the stuffed sweet rice is fully cooked too. Skim off any scum as desired.
• Transfer the chicken and the soup into a serving bowl. Garnish with the green onion and serve. Also, serve a small plate of salt and black pepper mixture (one plate per person). You can dip your chicken pieces into this sauce or add to your soup as desired. (Finally, don't forget to serve some Kimchi too!)

KOREAN CHICKEN AND GINGER SOUP

Steps:

• Put the cooked rice in a medium bowl. Heat the sesame oil in a large pot over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the minced garlic and cook, stirring often, until the garlic is toasted and golden brown, 1 minute. Remove the pot from the heat and pour the garlic and sesame oil over the rice. Set the pot aside. Season the rice with 1/4 teaspoon salt and stir with a fork until combined, breaking up any lumps.
• Stuff the cavity of each hen with 1/2 cup of the rice mixture. Overlap the skin flaps to enclose the rice inside the hens, fold the legs closed and tie with kitchen twine.
• Place the hens breast-side down in the reserved pot and add the chicken broth, 2 cups water, shallots, ginger, scallion whites, smashed garlic cloves, sugar and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, skimming the foam that rises to the top. Partially cover the pot and reduce the heat to maintain a steady simmer. Cook for 15 minutes, then use a spatula and a spoon to gently turn the hens breast-side up, being careful not to break the skin (they will float). Continue to simmer, partially-covered, until the hen breasts are firm and a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 degrees F, 15 to 20 minutes more.
• Meanwhile, make the sauces. Combine the soy sauce and vinegar in a small bowl and set aside. Combine the sesame oil, sesame seeds, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in another small bowl and set aside.
• Using a slotted spoon and tongs, remove the hens from the liquid, place them on a cutting board and remove the kitchen twine. Slice along the top of the breastbone to cut each hen into 2 halves, keeping the rice inside the cavity. Strain the broth through a sieve. Place each hen half in a wide, shallow bowl (rice side down) and divide the soup among the bowls. Garnish the soup with scallion greens and serve with the sesame sauce, soy-vinegar sauce, kimchi and seaweed.