Simple Korean Chicken and Rice Soup (Samgyetang)

I’m so excited for two reasons. First of all, I’ve spent quite a bit of time (and even some moola) recently sprucing up my blog. It’s been long overdue (I’ll get into the details in a future post), but I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out. I really hope you like it, too! Second, I posted a picture of some comfort food I made this week while sick, thinking there wouldn’t be much interest in it. I was pretty tickled to get multiple inquiries for the recipe, so here I am posting my first recipe on my “new” blog! Simple Korean Chicken and Rice Soup (Samgyetang).

The hubby and I are simultaneously battling colds. It really stinks being sick at the same time as my sweetie because not only do I have to deal with my coughs, I have to listen to his, too! lol. It’s also extra no-fun to pick up each other’s slack when you’re under the weather. One (and probably the only) good thing I can think of is that I don’t have to be as careful around him, especially when making meals, since we have the same germs! Here’s what I made for us on our second-to-worst day: Korean-style chicken and rice soup.

This may not look like much, but it’s my comfort food. Growing up, my parents made this soup called samgyetang (삼계탕) when someone got sick. It’s a Korean-style chicken soup with sweet rice, ginseng and garlic seasoned simply with salt and pepper. They made it using a whole chicken and jujubes (Korean dates). Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.

In all these years though, I’ve never actually made it myself… until now! I asked my parents for the recipe and I got: “Boil some chicken in lots of water, add some SWEET rice and season with salt and pepper. Throw in some ginseng and Korean dates, too.” No measurements, whatsoever. lol. But that’s just the way they cook some of the most delicious foods I’ve ever eaten, by memory and taste. Obviously, it was up to me to try to figure out the amounts to share with you!

I did a quick online search for some authentic-looking samgyetang recipes which all seemed to call for whole chickens or Cornish hens. They used ingredients I didn’t have and followed steps I didn’t want to take, particularly while sick. Then I also remembered having to deal with those pesky bones and cartilage. My mom felt the same way and told me not to use a whole chicken, just boned chicken thighs.

Doing what I do best out of laziness convenience and efficiency, I used boneless chicken thighs instead. They worked great because you still get some good ol’ fat, the chicken doesn’t dry out like breasts tend to and no bones about em! I also didn’t want to make a special trip to the local Korean grocery store for dates and ginseng, so I just used ginger in its place.

I have to add this disclaimer that traditionalists along with my parents may not approve of this post/recipe. My dad believes you need to use the whole chicken. My mom is a little less stringent but says you at least need chicken thighs on the bone. Both agree that you get more healing powers by including the bone and it lends itself to the overall constitution of the soup.

I’m 2nd gen, am not as traditional and love to take short cuts. So, I still went ahead and made it like this. On top of that, I usually just use ginger instead of ginseng! Such a rebel, I know. haha! So this is my easy version: Simple Korean Chicken and Rice Soup (Samgyetang). So easy to make, so delicious. I think I feel better already (even though it contains no bones)!

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Simple Korean Chicken and Rice Soup (Samgyetang)

Course Soup

Cuisine Korean

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 2 hours

Total Time 2 hours 20 minutes

Servings 8

Ingredients

• 8 Boneless chicken thighs
• 20 cups water
• 1.5 cups sweet rice, uncooked (not regular rice)
• 4 large cloves fresh garlic, minced
• 1 inch piece dried or fresh Korean Ginseng *note that I usually substitute fresh ginger, ~1" in diameter, minced or cut into smallish chunks if I don't have ginseng
• 1 whole green onions, chopped (optional)
• 4-6 jujube dates (optional)
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Place chicken thighs in a large stock pot and season generously with salt and pepper. Add garlic, ginger and water and bring to vigorous boil on high heat and let boil for about 5 minutes. Simmer over medium-low heat for about an hour.
2. Carefully take each piece of chicken out and coursely shred (ie leave some medium sized-pieces of chicken) with 2 forks. Return shredded chicken to simmering stock.
3. Add uncooked sweet rice and continue simmering for about 30 minutes, stirring frequently, until rice is softened/cooked and soup has thickened. My mom says to be sure to stir it up frequently as sweet rice can be a bit finicky and burn at the bottom of your pot.
4. Serve in bowls, top with some spring onions and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Recipe Notes

This soup will taste bland right out of the pot unless you seasoned the heck out of those chicken thighs! ; ) The key is to season each serving to the individual's taste with salt and pepper, so be sure to have the salt and pepper shakers handy!

This Simple Korean Chicken and Rice Soup (Samgyetang) recipe made a ton (it probably made more servings than 8) but I decided to keep it exactly the way I made it. Feel free to adjust the serving size to make less or more with my cool new recipe widget. Neat! We had plenty to eat and just as much to freeze for future colds or on days when you just need some comfort food.

Hope you enjoy this as much as I do! And if you are adventurous, try out a more authentic version of this soup. I ran across this one in my search. It looked pretty yummy and seemed pretty reasonable to make: Kimchimari’s Samgyetang.

To check out items used in my posts or some of my favorites, simply click here: “Products I Love“. Purchases made using these links earns me a little extra cash to support my bento habit, which Hubby certainly appreciates – haha! So, THANK YOU, should you choose to purchase any of ’em!