Samgyetang - Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup

The Korean cure for the common cold or flu!
    
     Samgyetang is a traditional Korean soup that is very healthy and it does have medicinal value!  This soup is usually served in the summer but it is great for chilly weather too.
     It seems like every culture around the globe has a chicken soup recipe that is revered as a cold remedy.  It is true that the soup broth of one whole chicken does help the body to fight off illness.  This Korean chicken soup is "number one" for fighting the common cold because of the medicinal ingredients.
     The seemingly hard to find ingredients in samgyetang can easily be found in a good asian market.  Las Vegas Korean markets always have fresh ginseng root in stock.  Jars of preserved ginseng root are also available.  Peeled cryovac packaged fresh ginkgo nuts are available in nearly any asian market.  Korean red dates (jujubes) can be found as a dried fruit product at any asian market.
     Ginseng is renowned as a strong antioxidant and immune system tonic.  Ginkgo nuts are one of the strongest antioxidants that there is and the are a natural cold remedy.  Korean red date also have strong antioxidant properties and they are rich in cold fighting nutrients.  Egg yolks also boost immune system response and the protein in egg whites promote fast recovery from illness.  The rice chicken stuffing offers cold fighting energy from carbohydrates.  
     By adding these ingredients to a whole chicken that is simmered in its own broth and served as a soup, a strong cold and flu fighting soup is created.  Koreans most often eat this soup during the hottest days of summer, to promote stamina and to prevent illness.  Samgyetang is served year round at Korean restaurants and many of the restaurant recipes are secret.  Samgyetang is probably the strongest natural chicken soup cure for the common cold that there is!    
   
     Samyetang:
     Select a young small whole chicken or a cornish game hen.  I used a cornish game hen to make this recipe.
     Measure enough sticky rice to stuff the chicken with.  (Sticky rice will hold its shape and it will not fall out of the chicken!)
     Boil the sticky rice for ten minutes, so it becomes sticky enough to hold together and so the rice is only halfway cooked..
     After the rice is cooked half way, place the rice in a strainer and allow the water drain from the rice.
     Place the rice in a bowl.
     Add 1 ounces of sliced ginseng root.
     Add 1 sliced small shallot.
     Add 3 dried Korean red dates (jujube) that are pitted and sliced.
     Add 4 chopped fresh shelled gingko nuts.
     Mix the stuffing ingredients together.
     Stuff the whole small chicken or cornish game hen with the rice stuffing.
     Use a bamboo skewer to thread the stuffed chicken cavity shut so it is sealed.
     Boil enough water in a soup pot to cover the chicken.
     Add 1 clove of shopped garlic.
     Add 1 teaspoon of ginger paste.
     Add 1/2 teaspoon of thin soy sauce.
     Add 1/2 teaspoon of Korean red serrano chile paste.
     Boil the broth for ten minutes.
     Strain the broth through a fine sieve and return the broth to the soup pot.
     Add the stuffed chicken to the broth.
     The broth should almost cover the chicken.
     Add 2 ounces of ginseng root that is cut into medium size lengths.
     Add 3 coarsly chopped gingko nuts.
     Add 3 dried Korean red dates (jujube) that are pitted.
     Add sea salt and white pepper.
     Bring the broth to a boil over medium high heat.
     Reduce the temperature to low heat.
     Simmer the soup for 1 hour, till the chicken becomes fully cooked and the meat can easily be pulled from the bones with chopsticks.  (Add water while simmering if necessary.  Turn the chicken over in the soup every once in a while.)
     Add 4 drops of sesame oil.
     Place the stuffed cooked chicken in a large soup bowl and remove the bamboo skewer.
     Pour the broth into the soup bowl.
     Add a few large bite size pieces of green onion to the broth.
     Keep the bowl warm on a stove top.
     Separate the yolk and white of 1 egg into 2 separate bowls.
     Whisk the egg white and yolk.
     Heat 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil in a non-stick saute pan over medium low heat.
     Pour the egg white on one side of the pan and the egg yolk on the other side of the pan.
     Pan fry the egg yolk and egg white, till it becomes fully cooked, but not browned.
     Place the fried egg yolk and egg white on a cutting board.
     Slice the egg into thin strips.
     Drape the egg white and yolk strips over the chicken in the soup bowl.
     Sprinkle some thin sliced green onion over the egg strips.
    
     The flavor of this great soup is amazingly good tasting!  The slight hint of sweet red date with the ginger, garlic and ginseng is excellent.  Ginkgo nuts adds a nice subtle flavor.  Ginkgo is one of the ingredients in an asian porridge called Congee.
    This is a healthy medicinal Korean soup that is fun to eat or share with chopsticks and a spoon for preventing illness.  By all means, eat the whole bowl of samgyetang is you are fighting a cold or flu!  Yum!  ...  Shawna