Samgyetang (Ginseng Chicken Soup)

This week I decided to make Samgyetang. In Korea this is considered a summer dish. They are of the mindset that you eat this hot soup to help beat the heat of summer. Sounds like an interesting concept. I personally think this is a great dish for winter. Right now everyone is getting sick and this soup sounds like a delicious way to help boost the immune system. I really enjoy cooking food that not only tastes good but that also nourish our bodies. Both chicken soup and ginseng have wonderful healing properties. Ginseng can help boost your energy and your immune system.

This week my playlist is more mellow. EXO released a special winter album on December 10th titled Sing For You. I have really been enjoying it. Normally I prefer EXO's more upbeat songs like Call Me Baby and Love Me Right but I like these new mellow songs.  Sing For You is a beautiful emotional ballad. The music video for the song takes the viewer through a couple different emotions. The video starts off with happier scenes but takes a sad turn before returning to happier scenes. The concept is interesting but somewhat confusing. The melody of the song connects well with the visuals but I'm not sure how the lyrics connect. All of EXO's music videos only contain the members. I think it would benefit them to start including women in some of the videos. I believe this would help them to better convey the messages of their songs, especially considering women are a main theme within the lyrics. The other songs on the album are more upbeat than Sing For You but are still mellow except for the bonus track Lightsaber. Of the songs on the album I think Unfair and Girl x Friend are my favorites. I love the stories they tell. I also noticed that Xiumin is more vocally present in the new songs. He's a talented singer and I'm glad he is getting more opportunities to sing.

With this recipe there wasn't as much prep time needed as with my previous recipes. The rice needs to soak for an hour but beyond that everything is ready to go.

Ingredients:

1 cornish hen (about 1.5 pounds)

1 fresh ginseng root (can be found at many Korean markets)

3 tablespoons sweet rice, soaked for 1 hour

5-6 plump garlic cloves

1 thin ginger slice (about 1 inch)

2 to 3 jujubes (dried red dates, can be found at many Korean markets)

1 scallion white part

5-6 cups of water

2 scallions, chopped, to garnish

Salt and pepper to taste

Step 1. Clean the cornish hen. Do not cut off the neck and/or tail, if they are still attached. They will be needed to keep the rice inside the hen. Use a paper towel to clean the inside the cavity to remove any blood.

Step 2. Stuff the hen with a couple garlic cloves and the sweet rice. Make sure to leave about 1/4 of the cavity free for the rice to expand.

Step 3. Tightly close the cavity with a toothpick or small skewer. Then cross the legs and tie together with kitchen twine. ( I missed the leg crossing step when making this dish, oopsie)

Step 4. Place the chicken in a medium pot and add the water. Because my pot was on the bigger side I needed about 8 cups to completely cover the chicken. Then add the garlic, ginseng, ginger, jujubes and the scallion white part. If the chicken came with a neck that had been cut off, add it in with the other ingredients. Bring everything to a boil over medium heat. Skim off any foam on top. Cover, and boil for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium low and boil for 20-30 more minutes. 

Step 5. Remove any visible fat and serve hot. Chopped scallions, salt and pepper added as desired. 

I hope you enjoyed this weeks adventure! This is another amazing recipe from the Korean Bapsang. Check out her version here. I really enjoyed making this recipe. I loved working with new ingredients like jujubes, ginseng and cornish hen. The finished product turned out wonderful! After adding a little salt, pepper and scallions, it was a delicious and healthy. I hope you all have a great week!

Xoxo,
Rachel