Korean ginseng chicken soup (samgyetang)
A spring chicken stuffed with glutinous rice, ginseng, red dates and garlic, slowly simmered for an hour — sweet broth and tender meat, a Korean dog-days favourite.
- 1 hr 30 min
- Serves 2
- Simmer
- Medium
Why it suits you: Yang-deficient people feel the cold, with chilly hands and feet, and as the dog days begin around Minor Heat, air conditioning and cold drinks sap yang most. Koreans eat samgyetang in the dog days to 'fight heat with heat', much like Chinese medicine's treating winter ailments in summer: ginseng greatly boosts qi, chicken warms the middle, and glutinous rice and dates warm and tonify the spleen.
Method
Prep 20 min · Cook 70 min- 1Rinse the glutinous rice and soak for 2 hours, then drain. Rinse the chicken, trim off the parson's nose and excess fat, and pat dry.
- 2Stuff the rice, 2 red dates and 3 garlic cloves into the cavity and close it with a cocktail stick so the rice doesn't escape.
- 3Put the chicken in a deep pot with the ginseng, the remaining dates and garlic, the ginger and water. Bring to the boil over a high heat and skim off any scum.
- 4Turn the heat down low and simmer half-covered for 60–70 minutes until the chicken is tender and the rice is cooked through.
- 5Season with salt, serve in bowls scattered with spring onion, and put salt and black pepper in a small dish for dipping the chicken.
Cautions
- Ginseng is a warming tonic: skip it during a cold or fever, with a sore throat, dry mouth or constipation, or if your blood pressure is poorly controlled. Don't take it with radish or strong tea.
Chef's tips
- A small spring chicken is tender and feeds two; if you find it too heating, use American ginseng whiskers for a gentler tonic.
The TCM view
Ginseng is sweet, slightly bitter and slightly warm, powerfully tonifying original qi and supporting the spleen and lungs. Chicken is sweet and warm, warming the middle and boosting qi; glutinous rice is sweet and warm, tonifying the middle and warming the stomach; red dates tonify the middle and nourish blood; garlic and ginger warm the middle and dispel cold. In the dog days yang floats outward and the interior runs cold, so moderate warming tonics support yang.
