Summer in Korea is never complete without a steaming bowl of samgyetang – ironically most popular during the three hottest days of summer. It is believed that samgyetang helps re-energize a person on account of losing stamina over the course of the summer.
Samgyetang is translated as ginseng chicken soup, drawing from three Korean words namely sam (삼) for ginseng, gye (계) for chicken and tang (탕) for soup.
The quintessential summer Korean food Samgyetang uses a young chicken, known for its tender meat, and then stuffed with ginseng, glutinous rice, garlic, ginger and jujubes, among many others. These are usually the main stuffing ingredients, but options vary: people sometimes add chestnuts, ginkgo nuts and hwanggi, or milk vetch roots.
Pale in color, samgyetang has a considerably stronger taste due to ginseng’s earthy flavor and jujubes’ sweetness.
Summer is too short of a season for samgyetang and it could also be a perfect dish for the colder months, or anytime when you want a stamina boost.
*photo source: https://blog.naver.com/wjdekduddl/220785974886
