Beat the heat Korean-style with a bubbling bowl of samgyetang

이지안 입력 2022. 8. 11. 14:20
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There is a Korean proverb that says even a tiny grain of sticky rice on the lips feels heavy during the dog days of summer. As temperatures shoot above 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) and the humid, steamy Korean heat begins yet again,..
Bibigo's meal kit samgyetang [CJ CHEILJEDANG]

There is a Korean proverb that says even a tiny grain of sticky rice on the lips feels heavy during the dog days of summer.

As temperatures shoot above 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) and the humid, steamy Korean heat begins yet again, even just stepping outside, or, yes, having a grain of rice stuck on your face, can be irksome, and many can’t help but feel the weight of the weather.

For the country’s ancestors who had to endure such heat without the virtues of modern technology, they fought it off with an even hotter soup: samgyetang,otherwise called Korean chicken ginseng soup.

The locals’ belief of i yeol chi yeol, or “fighting fire with fire,” is still very relevant today as samgyetang eateries in Seoul fill up even on the hottest days with people of all ages, breaking a sweat as they wolf down the chicken soup with the hope of reinvigorating themselves.

A typical samgyetang dish consists of one whole juvenile chicken, around one to three months old, stuffed with glutinous rice called chapsal, dates, chestnuts, milk vetch root called hwanggi and whole garlic cloves. Using a young chicken makes the soup less gamey and the meat more tender.

The broth is made by slow boiling ingredients such as chicken feet and beef tendons in water for several hours. Once the broth is flavorful enough, the ingredients are taken out and the chicken and a medicinal herb, ginseng, are tossed in.

Samgyetang is most commonly eaten during boknal, otherwise known as the three hottest days of summer between June and July, according to the lunar calendar.

The chicken in the samgyetang has been split open to reveal the stuffing inside at Ondal, a Korean restaurant at Grand Walkerhill Hotel in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul. [LEE JIAN]

Chobok is the first boknal and marks the first hot day of summer. Jungbok is the beginning of the second phase of the midsummer heat, and Malbok is thought to be the last hot day in summer. The three days are usually about 10 to 20 days apart, depending on the year’s lunar calendar.

This year, Chobok and Jungbok have already come and gone. Malbok is coming up on Aug. 15.

The oldest record of boknal can be found in China’s shiji, otherwise known as the Records of the Grand Historian, which is a historical text on Chinese civilization written from 109 B.C. to 91 B.C. According to this text, during the Qin Dynasty (221 B.C. to 206 B.C.), people held three ancestral ceremonies during June and July of the lunar calendar. Afterward, the record says, families would give meat to their servants who were worn out from organizing these ceremonies in such hot weather.

Scholars suspect that the tradition of eating meat on three summer days derives from this practice.

Though boknal can be traced to China, samgyetang is a uniquely Korean dish.

Jeong Hee-jeong, head researcher at Korea’s Center for Art Studies, studied texts and fables about chicken-related food from the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) and concluded that “samgyetang is Korea’s traditional dish, based on the country’s food cure philosophies of sikchi” during an academic conference on July 28, hosted by the Northeast Asian History Foundation.

Bibigo's meal kit samgyetang [CJ CHEILJEDANG]

One current issue putting samgyetang in the news is its rising price. As Korea’s inflation hit 6.3 percent in July, a 24-year high, prices in Korea have risen across the board, including for the essential ingredients in samgyetang such as poultry and rice.

Reports by the Korea Consumer Agency last month say that the price of one bowl of samgyetang has risen an average of 5.7 percent compared to the same time last year. This summer, one bowl of samgyetang costs on average 14,885 won (about $11) whereas it was 14,077 won last summer.

So how important is price when it comes to an authentic bowl of samgyetang?

From samgyetang at a luxury hotel to a quick and easy samgyetang meal kit, the Korea JoongAng Daily tried three different versions of the dish at different price points.

Samgyetang at Pyeonggang Samgyetang in Yonggin, Gyeonggi [LEE JIAN]

Pyeonggang Samgyetang

Samgyetang chain restaurants like Pyeonggang Samgyetang are one of the easiest and most common ways to enjoy the summer dish.

Pyeonggang Samgyetang (currently 16,000 won) slightly deviates from the traditional light and slightly opaque white chicken broth, as the broth here is much thicker. The store uses sanghwang mushrooms, a large orange mushroom which gives the broth and the chicken a golden glow. The dish is topped off with black sesame seeds, pine nuts and sunflower seeds.

The chicken in the bowl maintains its shape well throughout the meal. Though the meat comes off the bones easily enough, it is more chewy than soft.

The chicken is stuffed with a rather small amount of glutinous rice and some dates, garlic, ginseng and a large chunk of milk vetch root. Note that the stuffing in samgyetang and the rice may require some discretion because they have a strong aroma and taste that even some locals find difficult to eat.

The samgyetang is brought out of the kitchen piping hot in a ceramic bowl. It is served only slightly seasoned, so customers are encouraged to season the soup to their liking with the salt and pepper that is provided at the table.

The restaurant provides sides of pickled onions, cabbage kimchi and radish kimchi.

The best way to eat Pyeonggang Samgyetang, according to the restaurant, is to first dig into the chicken with a spoon, scoop out the stuffing and mix it in with the soup. Then it says to move the chicken onto a separate plate, eat the meat first and then move on to the broth and the stuffing.

Nokdu samgyetang served at Ondal, a Korean restaurant at Grand Walkerhill Hotel in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul [LEE JIAN]

Ondal at Grand Walkerhill Hotel

Ondal, a Korean restaurant at Grand Walkerhill Hotel in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul, is serving samgyetang as a seasonal dish for the summer.

The restaurant’s Summer Escape menu is a table d’hote lunch that includes an appetizer, one of three main dishes, and dessert. One of the main dishes is samgyetang.

The appetizer consists of a cherry tomato, small salad, chicken thigh meat, jellied beef and a block of cod roe and crab fish.

A plate of appetizers that is part of the table d'hote lunch at Ondal [LEE JIAN]

Ondal’s Nokdu Samgyetang (48,000 won) meal option stuffs chicken with nokdu, or mung beans, and glutinous rice, chestnuts, dates, garlic and ginkgo nuts. The size of the chicken here was the largest of the three samgyetang in this article. The glistening chicken sits in the center of bowl with its legs neatly crossed.

Putting just the slightest pressure on the skin, the well-cooked chicken effortlessly falls apart and the tender meat is released from the bones.

It is served with sides of jangjorim (braised beef and soy sauce), kimchi, namul (seasoned greens) and seasoned bamboo shoots with mung bean sprouts.

Dessert that is part of the table d'hote lunch at Ondal [LEE JIAN]

The meal wraps up with small pieces of fruit, rice cakes and cold plum tea.

Ondal’s Summer Escape menu is available for lunch on weekdays through Aug. 31.

Bibigo's samgyetang meal kit [CJ CHEILJEDANG]

Bibigo’s samgyetang meal kit

As the price of samgyetang at restaurants rises, many are turning to meal kits to carry on their summer traditions. According to local e-commerce platform TMON, summer meal kit sales saw an on-year increase of 350 percent.

Bibigo’s samgyetang meal kit is 8,980 won, which was similar to other samgyetang packets in the supermarket aisle.

It can be cooked by either putting the whole pack in boiling water for 15 to 20 minutes or by pouring the contents into a bowl and microwaving for seven and a half minutes, according to the instructions on the packet. The chicken inside the packet has already been pre-cooked so consumers do not need to worry about fully cooking the chicken.

Samgyetang made from Bibigo's meal kit [LEE JIAN]

The clear, yellowish chicken broth is slightly oilier than the two other samgyetang, and the chicken is about the size of two fists. It does not keep its shape very well, but the overall texture of the meat is tender. The meat lacks flavor compared to the other samgyetang, but it is still tasty and satisfying enough for an easy, protein-rich meal.

The inside is stuffed with glutinous rice, dates, garlic and a rather large piece of ginseng about the size of an index finger.

This soup is salty enough that it doesn’t need additional seasoning.

The packet encourages consumers to add their own ingredients to the soup, such as mushrooms and green onions.

Bibigo is a local food company specializing in packaged Korean foods. The brand is under the conglomerate CJ CheilJedang and it is best known for its dumplings.

BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]

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