Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup, SAMGYETANG! (2 Ways)

Hello from Seoul! When you think of traditional Korean food, what is the first dish that comes to your mind? Yes, that's right! It's samgyetang, Korean ginseng chicken soup. No? You're saying kimchi? Yeah, you have a point. But, please put that aside and focus on samgyetang today. Alright, are you guys ready? Let's get started! Since it looks too authentic and fancy, I know some of you might be overwhelmed before you even try. But, don't worry about it. As always, I'm here for you guys. With a little bit of techniques that I'm gonna share today, I'm pretty sure you can enjoy authentic samgyetang at your house. So, buckle up! For this, you will need a whole chicken, glutinous rice, green onion, garlic, and ginseng. Also, you will need this samgyetang herbal kit, which includes dried jujubes, ginkgo nuts, and some medicinal herbs. Here, you're probably wondering where you can get this, right? Go to the nearest Korean grocery store and ask for a samgyetang kit. Then, I'm pretty sure Mrs. Kim will get it for you with a big smile, like your mom. You're too shy to ask? Then, try to get this on Amazon. They have plenty of them. So, don't worry about it! First of all, let's prep some rice. Put 8 tablespoons of glutinous rice in a mixing bowl and give it a good rinse, like 2 or 3 times. And then, soak it in water for at least 1 hour. For samgyetang, the chicken needs to be stuffed with this glutinous rice. So, I'll say this is necessary. What? There's no way to get this glutinous rice? Then, just use any kind of cooked rice. But don't tell anybody I said this. It's just between you and me. Next, green onion. Since it goes into the broth, you don't have to cut this really small. But make sure to include the white part because all the good flavor is in here. And then, slice some green onion for garnish. Now, let's move on to the garlic. Since I'm gonna use whole garlic, there's nothing much we need to prep. But what's really important here is you should get a lot of garlic, just like me. I think it's about 20 cloves of garlic. This time, ginseng. Let's cut it into bite-size pieces. As you can tell from the name of the dish, this guy is the key ingredient. But if there's no way to get this, don't worry about it. As long as you have this samgyetang kit, still gonna be good. Now, grab 2 or 3 jujubes. And remove the seeds. And then, roll it as tightly as you can. And cut it into thin pieces. Since this is more of an aesthetic thing, it's totally optional. Then, why am I doing this? It's because I just wanna make it beautiful. You will see what I'm talking about. This time, let's work on the chicken. First, grab a knife or scissors. And cut off the wingtips. And then, just trim any extra fat around the neck and the bottom part. If you leave it on, the broth might get too oily. So make sure to trim that off as much as you can. And for information, when you wash your chicken, clean the inside of the chicken thoroughly. That's gonna help you get a nice and clean broth at the end. Once you're done, stuff the chicken. Put 4 tablespoons of glutinous rice. 3 to 4 cloves of garlic. 20 grams of ginseng. And 2 jujubes. The amount of stuffing totally depends on the size of your chicken. So add more or less, if it's necessary. Now, close the cavity with toothpicks. And tie the legs together with kitchen string. So that nothing comes out of the chicken. Normally, to get deeper broth, restaurants use dozens of chickens. But we can't go that far, right? So I recommend using Alice Two Whole Chickens. What? Is it too much? Don't worry about it. It is so delicious, so it will disappear soon. Now, let's get ready with the pot. For information, the best way to cook samgyetang is using a pressure cooker. Because it's quick and the chicken will turn out nice and tender. And most importantly, it's gonna develop the flavor. And the broth will turn out much deeper. Some of you might say, Aaron, I don't have a pressure cooker. What should I do? Don't worry about it. You can use an instant pot. You don't have it either? Then take out a large stockpot and boil it for more than 16 minutes. It should be alright. Now, let's put the green onion, garlic, and samgyetang kit into the pot. And pour the water, which is about 6 cups. Normally, in samgyetang restaurants, they use stock made from a lot of chicken and chicken feet. But we don't have much time for that. And you're not gonna open a restaurant, right? So we will just go for water. You'll still worry about the taste? Then add 1 tablespoon of chicken powder or chicken stock. Anything you have. With this, it's gonna be pretty much the same as the one from restaurants. Problem solved. Now, close the lid and place it over medium heat. Once it starts pressurizing, it's gonna make a sound like a train. Then change the heat to low heat and let it go for about 10 minutes. After that, turn off the heat and let it sit for about 7 minutes. And then release the steam. Here, if you don't release the steam, no one will notice it was chicken. Which means you can show off to your family or friends. Lastly, let's make the dipping sauce. It sounds like a lot of work, but all you need is just a little bit of salt and pepper. If you wanna make it a little fancier, add a little bit of sesame seeds. That's it. Alright, let's transfer it to a ttukbaegi and gently add some broth over the chicken. And for a prettier presentation, place some ginseng, green onions, and jujubes on top of the chicken. You can serve it now, but if you want more authentic vibes, boil it until it gets bubbling hot. How does it look? It looks awesome, right? Alright, let's call our taste tester. Claire. Every time I get some food that is served piping hot like this, I just get excited. Let me try the broth first. Ready? Let me try the chicken leg. Guys, ready? Oh my gosh. This time, let me check the stuff inside. The ginseng, the garlic, and the rice look so tender and delicious. More bites! The broth is so good. It's so good. Guys, look at this. I know some of you might say, Aaron, samgyetang is too complicated. Is there any simpler way that we can try instead? I'm glad you brought that up. This time, let me show you how to make dakjuk, Korean-style chicken porridge, which tastes almost like Korean chicken soup. It is so easy and delicious, so you may cook it every day. For this, you will need some chicken, green onion, onion, garlic, and cooked rice. And if you use some jujubes and ginseng, you will make your dish look way fancier. First of all, let's make the broth. Put four chicken legs and one chicken breast into the pot. And then add one onion, 10 cloves of garlic or more, and one stalk of green onion. You have a whole chicken in the fridge? Congratulations! You can have a much deeper and more flavorful chicken porridge. Keep adding three jujubes, 20 grams of ginseng, 10 cups of water, and turn the heat to high heat. And if you have a samgyetang kit, you can add it too. Once it starts to boil, there might be some foamy stuff on top. Then reduce the heat to low heat and skim that off. From now, put the lid on and let it continue to boil over medium heat for about 40 minutes. While it's boiling, let's prep the vegetables. Finely chop some carrot and zucchini. It's better to cut these really, really small. It's a bit annoying? Then just skip them. That's okay. But that will definitely make your porridge look more beautiful. Lastly, chop some green onion for garnish. If you have some chive instead of green onion, can use it too. No problem at all. All right, it's been 40 minutes. Turn off the heat and take out the chicken. And then remove the other ingredients. But let's save the ginseng for garnish. When the chicken is cool enough, shred it into bite-sized pieces. You may not notice it. I'm screaming right now. I was too early. But the camera is on, so I can't handle it. Please pray for my hands. Now, let's make the porridge. Put 4 cups of broth, 2 bowls of cooked rice, all the chicken, and place it over medium heat. At this point, the most important thing is that you should keep stirring it with lots of love. Otherwise, all the rice will stick on the bottom. Once it gets a little thicker, grab a spoon and give it a quick taste. It must be tasty, but I know you will feel something is missing. It's because we only used a small amount of chicken, so it's quite natural. Then what should we do? That's right! Add a half tablespoon of chicken powder or chicken stock. That's it! So simple, right? After that, let's add the carrots and zucchinis, a little bit of salt and pepper, and let it simmer for about 3 to 5 minutes. Once it's done, transfer it to a serving bowl and garnish the top with some green onions, sesame seeds, jujubes, and ginseng root. How does it look? It looks absolutely fantastic, right? You want to know how it tastes? All right, let's call our taste tester! Claire? It smells like samgyetang! Oh, you put a lot of effort into the decoration! Mmm, it's so pretty! Let's mix it! When you have a Korean party, it's way hotter than you think, so make sure to cool it down a little bit. Wow! Mmm! Give me some samgyetang. You know what? It makes everything better. Let me try! It's good. I think it's 10 times better than before. In my opinion, this is much better. Today, I showed you samgyetang and dakjuk. How was it? It doesn't need a little bit of effort and technique, but it's way much easier than you think, right? Once you try it, I'm pretty sure you may not want to go to a restaurant to have samgyetang. Alright, this is it for today, and I'll see you next time!