Samgyetang Recipe
160 minBase: 2 servings
Ingredients
Main ingredients
- Small whole chicken900 g
- Uncooked glutinous rice50 g
- Fresh ginseng root20 g
- Green onion20 g
Seasonings
- Dried jujubes3 whole
- Peeled whole garlic cloves30 g
- Fresh ginger5 g
- Water for the soup1,800 ml
- Salt0.75 tsp
- Ground black pepper0.13 tsp
Ingredient preparation notes
- Small whole chicken
One approximately 900 g bird with giblets removed. Thaw frozen chicken fully in the refrigerator; thawing time is additional.
- Uncooked glutinous rice
Dry weight before rinsing and soaking for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
- Fresh ginseng root
About one small fresh root, scrubbed free of soil. Included as a defining ingredient in this recipe.
- Dried jujubes
Rinse before use; watch for pits when eating.
- Fresh ginger
Cut into 2–3 thin slices.
- Green onion
Cut half into 5 cm broth pieces and thinly slice the rest for finishing.
- Water for the soup
For a snug saucepan about 20 cm wide. Rice soaking water is separate and discarded.
- Salt
Add gradually after cooking.
Equipment & measures
- Knife and cutting board
- Kitchen scale and measuring spoons
- Snug saucepan and lid for the chicken
- Strainer
- Kitchen scissors
- Kitchen twine
- Tongs
- Ladle and cooking spoon
- Food thermometer
1 tsp = 5ml · 1 tbsp = 15ml. Use measuring spoons.
Prep 70 min · Cook 90 min
Method
The instructions below are for 2 servings.
Soak the rice and prepare the aromatics
Rinse the rice, cover with cold water, and soak in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Drain well. Scrub soil off the ginseng and rinse the jujubes. Cut half the green onion into 5 cm lengths and thinly slice the rest. Slice the ginger and prepare the garlic.
Prepare chicken without washing it
Do not wash raw chicken. Remove the packaging, check for a giblet bag, and trim excess fat inside the cavity with scissors. Blot pooled liquid with a paper towel and discard it immediately. Wash your hands, tools, board, and affected work surfaces after handling the bird.
Fill loosely just before cooking
Loosely spoon the drained rice into the cavity immediately before cooking. Rice and any other cavity ingredients together must occupy no more than half its volume. Put excess rice directly into the saucepan. Tie the legs loosely with kitchen twine without sealing the cavity tightly. Cook immediately rather than storing the stuffed bird.
Start the broth
Set the chicken breast-side up in a snug saucepan. Add 1,800 ml water, ginseng, jujubes, garlic, ginger, and the long green-onion pieces. Most of the bird should be submerged; add a little water if necessary. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, allowing about 10 minutes, and skim the foam.
Simmer gently
Partially cover and simmer over medium-low heat for about 70 minutes. Spoon broth over the bird about every 20 minutes. If the level falls substantially, replenish with hot water in 100 ml increments. Avoid a violent boil that tears the skin, and prevent loose rice from catching on the bottom.
Check chicken and stuffing separately
Avoiding bone, measure the thickest breast and the innermost thigh and wing. Separately check the center of the rice stuffing. Every location must reach at least 74°C/165°F. If any is cooler, simmer for another 5–10 minutes and check again. Rice should have no firm core. Once fully cooked, turn off the heat and leave in the broth for 5 minutes.
Divide between two bowls
Remove all kitchen twine and divide the chicken with clean scissors and tongs. Share the cooked rice and broth between two bowls. Remove the long onion pieces and ginger if preferred, and add the sliced green onion. Season gradually with the measured salt and pepper. Watch for small chicken bones and jujube pits.
Simmer a small whole chicken with soaked glutinous rice, fresh ginseng, jujubes, and garlic. Check both the chicken and the rice stuffing for 74°C/165°F.
One small whole chicken makes two portions of this ginseng soup. Preparation includes a one-hour rice soak. Fresh ginseng flavors the broth; loose stuffing leaves room for the rice to expand. Use a thermometer to check the chicken and the center of the rice rather than relying on the cooking time alone.
A LITTLE KITCHEN WISDOM
Little details that help
Leave room inside
Soaked rice still expands as it cooks. Space allows hot liquid to reach the filling more evenly. Excess rice can simmer in the broth, making it slightly thicker; this is easier to manage than packing the cavity tightly.
Portions do not determine bird size
For one serving, you can still cook one small whole chicken and promptly refrigerate the remainder rather than seek a 450 g bird. Do not apply this schedule unchanged to a larger chicken. Check all three chicken locations and the stuffing center for 74°C/165°F regardless of size.
Storing leftovers
Remove rice from the cavity and take the meat off the bones. Divide meat, rice, and broth into separate shallow containers and refrigerate at 4°C/40°F or below within 2 hours, or 1 hour above 32°C/90°F. Use within 3 days. Reheat the meat and rice to 74°C/165°F throughout. Do not leave the full saucepan on the counter to cool.
Common questions
Can I leave out the ginseng?
You can make a whole-chicken soup, but without ginseng it is closer to dak baeksuk than the samgyetang described here. Include 20 g fresh ginseng to follow this recipe. Dried ginseng requires separate package-specific soaking and quantity guidance.
Can all the rice cook outside the chicken?
Yes. Add all the soaked rice to the broth and stir to prevent sticking; the soup will become thicker. Even without rice in the cavity, the breast and innermost thigh and wing must all reach 74°C/165°F.
