‘Samgyetang’ (ginseng chicken soup) and other healing recipes from Seoul

Seafood Samgyetang, Samgyetang, and Samgyetang Porridge
Clockwise from top left: Seafood Samgyetang, Samgyetang, and Samgyetang Porridge

 

I am back from Kitchens of the World Seoul.

Kitchens of the World are culinary journeys I design in partnership with Rajah Travel, alongside colleagues and dear friends who are culinary professionals from all over the globe.

Here are recipes of some of the dishes we had on our trip. As I always say, I believe that learning a dish from the countries we visit makes the most lasting souvenirs.

We were fortunate to have been allowed to use the facilities of the Seoul K-Medi Center, a multipurpose cultural complex that was established to promote a better understanding of Korean traditional medicine.

The center is in the heart of Seoul’s Yangnyeong Herbal Medicine Market—a most appropriate venue to learn how samgyetang is done. Sam means ginseng; gye  is chicken; tang, soup.

Korean food expert Ashley Hwang taught us all we needed to know about preparing the hearty chicken dish, famous for its healing benefits.

Ginseng gives energy and is beneficial to the body. It also combats fatigue, keeps us strong and healthy.

Samgyetang, Hwang added, gives you stamina.

 

Participants of Kitchens of the World Seoul with their “samgyetang”

Samgyetang

1 600-g young chicken

50 g Korean sticky rice

1 fresh ginseng root

1 clove garlic

Dried jujube

Chestnut, peeled

Stuff chicken with the following: 1 tbsp of sticky rice, ginseng root, 1 clove garlic, 1 chestnut, 1 jujube.

Secure the filling by making a slit on one side of the chicken thigh skin and inserting the other leg through it. You may also secure the cavity with a wooden pick then tie the legs of the chicken.

For the broth:

2 liters water

30 g hwang gi (milk vetch root)

30 g um namu (kalopanax)

50 g green onion or leeks

Bring water to a boil with hwang gi and um namu and green onions. Once the broth boils, add the chicken and cook for 45 minutes for spring chicken and 1 hour for larger ones.

Serve the chicken garnished with green onions. Salt is served on the side along with your choice of kimchi.

Variation: Our samgyetang at the K-Medi Center was made very special. To it, we added seafood. Doing so, they say, makes the skin radiant.

After the samgyetang was cooked, we added a couple of pieces of fresh abalone, small octopus and shrimp to the broth. It was simmered until the seafood was done. The chicken was served with the seafood.

We also made samgyetang porridge by straining the remaining broth, and to it we added soaked sticky rice, chopped leeks, carrots, onions. It was served when the rice was done.

In the Philippines, fresh ginseng isn’t found easily. However, the soup can still be prepared by using the samgyetang broth pack, available locally in Korean stores. The pack includes all the essential ingredients (hwang gi and um namu).

Lily Min, the food expert at the Korean Embassy in the Philippines, said that hwang gi has properties similar to ginseng, and um namu benefits the liver, is good for arthritis, inflammation, and gives energy.

However, without the ginseng, the dish is called dakbaeksuk—dak, chicken; baeksuk is cooked fish or meat without seasoning.

One of the best doenjang-jjigae (soybean stew) I’ve had was at chef David Yoon’s Asian Live Kitchen at the Seoul Intercontinental Coex.

 

“Deonjang-jjigae” or soybean stew

He shared his recipe:

Seafood Doenjang Stew

(Good for one person)

50 g live abalone

50 g crab claw

30 g cuttlefish, sliced

40 g shrimp, peeled

10 g scallop

30 g black clam

10 g tofu, cubed

Vegetable ingredients

30 g zucchini, sliced into thin discs and cut into triangles

20 g onion, large dice

10 g green chili, sliced

40 g mushroom, shiitake or king

10 g enoki mushroom

20 g green onion, sliced

Doenjang broth (10 persons)

200 g dried anchovy

50 g cheongyang pepper (hot pepper)

6 g ginger

30 g dried kelp

2 g black peppercorns

27 g chili powder (coarse type)

60 g garlic

21 g beef powder

25 ml refined rice wine sake

23 g glutinous rice flour

440 g doenjang (bean paste)

2500 cc beef stock

For broth:

Combine all broth ingredients except anchovy and bring to a boil for 30 minutes.

In a dry pan, roast anchovies until fragrant. Add anchovies to broth and cook 10 minutes. Strain.

Transfer broth to a ddukbaegi (earthen cookware) approximately 1½ cups per ddukbaegi. One ddukbaegi is one serving.

Put ddukbaegi over fire and bring broth to a boil. Add vegetables and seafood and simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve garnished with spring onions.

For more recipes from Korea, watch out for the coming travel show “Kitchens  of the World.”

Follow the columnist: iamreggieaspiras; reggieaspiras.com

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