Restore your energy with Samgyetang (Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup)! It’s a popular summer stamina food in Korea.
Today, I’m sharing a samgyetang recipe. Samgyetang (삼계탕, 蔘鷄湯) means ginseng chicken soup and it is a popular stamina food in summer.
Korean ancestors believed that you can supplement your lost energy by having this soup. So many Koreans visit Samgyetang restaurants in summer, particularly during the three hottest days of summer (also known as three dog days of summer). And, the first one is coming up next week – July 12th this year!
Even though samgyetang is a popular summer food, I think it’s a perfect soup even in winter (or any other cooler season) simply because it’s warm and gives you nice soothing comfort.
My family’s been really enjoying this soup in the last few weeks and that really made me pleased. I was never a huge fan of it, but I really do love my homemade samgyetang! It’s very light, healthy and tastes nutritious.
I hope you give this recipe a try soon for your family too. Hope you all like it and feel healthy!
P.S Make sure to read my additional tips at the end of the recipe before trying it out!
P.P.S If you like this recipe, you may want to try Ginseng Tea and Korean Chicken Noodle Soup recipe.
Ingredients for Samgyetang (Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup), Serves 3 to 4
Broth
- 1.2 kg / 2.6 pounds whole chicken, if you can, try to use cornish chicken as the typically recommended chicken size for samgyetang is about 400 g / 0.9 pounds per serving. However, I couldn’t find it, so I just used the smallest whole chicken I could find.
- 1.5 liter water
Stuffing
- 1/4 cup sweet rice (mochi rice or sticky rice), soaked in water for 2 hours (this can be done overnight and kept in the fridge)
- 1 dried or fresh Korean ginseng or American ginseng (I used 15 g of dried ginseng)
- 4 whole garlic cloves, peeled
- 5 dried jujube
- (optional) 3 to 4 ginko nuts, peeled if not already
- (optional) 3 to 4 fresh or frozen chest nuts, peeled if not already
Garnish & To serve
- 1 to 2 Tbsp green onion, thinly sliced
- fine sea salt, to taste
- ground black pepper, to taste
*1 Tbsp = 15 ml, 1 Cup = 250 ml
How to Make Samgyetang (Ginseng Chicken Soup)
1. Wash the chicken (including the cavity) thoroughly under running cold water.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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!)
Additional Tips for Making Samgyetang at Home
- Finding ginseng whether it’s fresh or dried can be quite challenging, at least that was the case for me! I was “lucky” enough to find some dried American ginseng. FYI, Korean giseng and American ginseng have different medicinal benefits. So you may want to read up about the differences prior to going shopping.
- If you’re using a dried ginseng root, soak it overnight in water. I normally soak it in 500 ml / 2 cups of water then use this water in the broth. (So I would use 1 liter fresh water and 500 ml ginseng soaked water). But even after cooking, dried ginseng are not edible. It’s very hard and woody. So I would choose fresh ginseng over dried ginseng if I have a choice.
- While ginseng is harder to find, finding “samgyetang kit” from a Korean grocery store might be relatively easy. Some of these packages may include ginseng but I haven’t come across one yet. Instead, it will be filled with different types of herbal ingredients (as shown below) such as milk vetch root. If you are using this kit, use this prior to step 3 and this is what you need to do. -> Boil the water in a pot. Once the water is rolling boiling, add the herbal ingredients and boil them over medium high heat until the water changes to yellow / light brown from the herbal ingredients. Take them out and discard. Add the stuff chicken and follow the remaining steps as above. Alternatively, follow the package instructions.
- You could debone the whole chicken after cooking but prior to serving for the convenience of individuals. (This is how we serve it at home and it’s usually my hubby’s job. 🙂 )
Samgyetang (Ginseng Chicken Soup)
Ingredients
BROTH
- 1.2 kg whole chicken if you can, try to use cornish chicken as the typically recommended chicken size for samgyetang is about 400 g / 0.9 pounds per serving. However, I couldn’t find it, so I just used the smallest whole chicken I could find.
- 1.5 liter water
STUFFING
- 1/4 cup sweet rice (mochi rice or sticky rice), soaked in water for 2 hours (this can be done overnight and kept in the fridge)
- 1 ginseng , dried or fresh Korean ginseng or American ginseng (I used 15 g of dried ginseng)
- 4 whole garlic cloves , peeled
- 5 dried jujube
- 4 ginkgo nuts (optional), peeled if not already
- 4 chest nuts (optional), fresh or frozen, peeled if not already
GARNISH & TO SERVE
- 1 Tbsp green onion , thinly sliced
- fine sea salt , to taste
- ground black pepper , to taste
Instructions
- 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!)
Notes
Nutrition Info (per serving)
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Hi sue
Was wondering is it okay to use American ginseng slice in Chinese they called it 泡渗片 pow sum slice instead of the 1 ginseng ..
Hello!
I have been in South Korea once and a friends mum prepared this soup.
But I live in Europe. Could I use a type of ginseng tea in the soup instead of dried or fresh ginseng?
Thank you very much for the recipe!
Yours sincerely,
Helen
Hi. Do I take the chicken out of the broth and carve the chicken after it is cooked, or do I just pull it apart in the broth?
If the chicken is small (about 500g /18 ounces) you just serve the whole chicken with the soup (without prior cutting). This is how a restaurant would serve and it’s typically for one person serving. Though, I do find this is still quite a big portion particularly if you’re serving with other dishes including rice. You eat the chicken by separating the parts with your finger tips and chopsticks. You could use kitchen scissors as well.
For an easy home version, you could take the chicken out, cut up the pieces into strips then add back to the soup (in a serving bowl). Don’t forget to distribute the stuffing that was filled inside the chicken as well.
다른 나라에 있을지는 모르겠는데 한국에서는 다른 모든 재료 대신에 쌍화탕 1병만을 넣어서 국물맛을 내기도 해요~~
HI Sue! I recently got in Korean cooking during quarantine and luckily found your website. I have made several dishes using only your recipes and they have all been success! However, I am trying to reduce my white rice intake and was wondering if I could substitute for brown rice in the samgyetang. Will that affect the cooking period or flavour! Thanks
I haven’t tried with brown rice, but I don’t think it will affect the flavor much. Also, you don’t need to change the cooking time.
Dear Sue
I’d love to try making Samgyetang! For the longest time, I wanted to taste it.
However, where I live (Denmark) neither fresh nor dried Korean or American ginseng is readily available and ordering online is currently very difficult due to post offices being overrun.
Do you think one could possibly use some kind of ginseng tea, put it in a tea cloth and steep it in the soup?
Also, since samgyetang is usually made with cornish chicken, would a quail work out? I know they are different, but I simply wondered whether it could be an option rather than trying to source a small chicken.
Great questions. In regards to ginseng, I’ve seen some Koreans using red ginseng extract (e.g. https://amzn.to/3oPlsaH) in their samgyetang. You can make ginseng tea with this extract by diluting the extract in hot/warm water. I’ve also seen some people using powder format of ginseng as well. But as I haven’t tried either options myself, I can’t give you much feedback.
I also just quickly looked up on the internet and saw some people and restaurants using a quail for samgyetang. How interesting!
Good luck making samgyetang!
You don’t need salt or pepper in the soup? Instead prepare mixture salt and black pepper in small saucer plate for chicken pieces to dip in while enjoying the chicken?
This looks great. I was wondering if dried Ginseng root can be reserved after cooking and reused?
You eat the ginseng once it’s cooked. All the good properties of ginseng would be already dissolved into the soup.
Hello Sue, i was thinking of making this at some point over the autumn winter months and was wondering if a Poussin would work instead of a Chicken?
It should work. Enjoy! 🙂
Hi! I made this and it is really a very light tasting and naturally sweet soup from the chicken and red dates. Im planning to cook for 6 pax. Can I use a 1kg whole chicken and a few drumsticks and chicken wings? Do I need to add in more gingseng and other ingredients? Thanks
If you’re planning to cook for 6 people, you will need to increase the ingredients accordingly. You can work this out from the recipe card above by changing the serving size from 4 to 6 in the white box. Hope this helps!
Thanks for quick response. Yes aware about the recipe card in the recipe. My concern is Im afraid I dont have a pot big enough for the chicken. So thinking of getting a 1kg chicken and a few drumsticks and chicken wings. Is this workable? Thanks
Yes, why not. 🙂 I would preferred a larger whole chicken so that I can stuff ingredients inside…But these days, you’ve got to work with what you have. A new life lesson we are all learning… 🙂
Thank you
Hi. I want to try this recipe. Can i use dry chestnut? Thanks
Yes, you can. 🙂
Hi, I accidentally bought fresh jujubes instead of dried. Can I use them?
I somehow missed this question. I’m so sorry! I’ve never heard or seen people using fresh jujubes in samgyetang. I wouldn’t use it.
Hello Sue. Have you tried making this with Instant Pot. If you have, can you give me some tips? Thanks!!!
Hi Ross, No, I haven’t tried this in an instant pot yet. But, for sure, I will let you know when I do.
planning to do this at home on weekend with the kids, but dont know where to find or buy jujube..i have korean ginseng already bought from online.
Try Asian, Chinese or Korean grocers. They should have it! Hope you enjoy it. 🙂
Hi, Sue, It’s been so long since our last conversation here. How are you and the family? I hope everything is well and good. About the Samgyetang Chicken soup, well would you believe it becomes the most requested dish soup in the family, the kids loved it and even wished to come back to Korea. Can I request the Beef Stew recipe?
Thank you again!
Hi Judi, I’m so pleased to hear your family’s been enjoying my samgyetang recipe. In terms of beef stew recipe, what sorts are you after? Here are two of my beef soup/stew recipe I have at present. https://mykoreankitchen.com/galbitang-beef-short-rib-soup/ and https://mykoreankitchen.com/korean-beef-stew/ 🙂
Seem delicious, will try, TQ
Hi i’m from malaysia and i already try this recipe.. Its so fresh and delicious to much.. I addicted to this soup.. Falling in love..😍😍😍😍
Happy to hear that you love this soup. Thanks for your feedback! 🙂
Hi Sue! I was wondering if I could make samgyetang the night before an event and reheat it in the morning, is it possible?
Hi Fresty, I think it’s possible but reheating may take a while with a whole chicken. Also, make sure you tie the legs well with a cotton tie so that you don’t lose the stuffing while cooking & reheating.
Hi Sue,
Can i use ginseng powder to replace the roots? If yes, when shall i add in the powder?
Thanks,
Eileen
Hi Eileen, I haven’t tried ginseng powder myself, but I’ve seen other people using it. You normally add it before adding the chicken and boil. Hope this helps.
hi I am from Philippines. I love all about Korea especially CN BLUE hehehe. Anyway, I want to learn how to cook Korean dishes. Everytime I’ve watched K-dramas, I’ve got really hungry and want to try it. One of the dishes is Samgyetang. from the ingredients, is there any alternative for Jujubes, ginko and chest nuts? for the rice, is this cooked? or the uncooked? Can I replace ginseng with tumeric or ginger?
I am so excited to try this at home for my kids. Hope to hear from you
Hi Sheng, for rice, you put uncooked sweet rice. As for the remaining ingredients (jujubes, ginko, and chestnuts), if you can’t find them, you can omit.
I wouldn’t replace ginseng with tumeric or ginger though. Without ginseng what you are making is just chicken soup. 🙂
I quite like this dish and I think it can really help with restoring energy. I tried it in Korea before and had it at my local Korean restaurant recently. Both times I wondered why no salt was added to season the broth, the rice or the chicken. Instead, salt was served separately in a small plate. It is that way in your recipe too. I thought that’s quite interesting.
Hi Sophie, Yes, this dish is quite soothing, comforting and energising! Now I think of it, it is interesting that we don’t add salt while making broth. ???? Though, I like it this way because each individuals can adjust their salt intake.????