Being a fan of Korean cuisine, I shall introduce one of my top favourite dishes — Ginseng chicken soup/ Samgyetang (삼계탕) to you. Evident from its name, the main ingredients of this soup are chicken and ginseng.  This soup is cooked by boiling a whole young chicken stuffed with glutinous rice, Panax ginseng, red dates, garlic and ginger for a few hours. There are lots of variants depending on the additional medicinal herbs in the recipe. If you really love soupy stuff, you’ve got to taste this! 정말 맛있어요 (“It really tastes good”)!

Origin of Samgyetang
This is a dish eaten by Koreans during the hottest days in summer called boknal (복날) where people tend to have little appetite due to the hot weather. Koreans believe that it replenishes the energy lost from excessive sweating and that consuming this delicious soup can help maintain health. I couldn’t really find a detailed history on Samgyetang but according to one source, it is over 1300 years old. Please share by commenting below if you happen to know about the history of this dish.

Possible Benefits of Panax Ginseng
Since Panax Ginseng is an integral part of this dish, aren’t we interested to know how it may benefit our health?

Panax Ginseng is an adaptogen which increases the body’s adaptability to stress by strengthening the immune, nervous and grandular system. It stimulates the production of immune cells that destroy pathogens, balances the release of stress hormones by supporting the organs (e.g hypothalamus) that produce them, helps produce endorphins (a hormone that can be produced naturally by the body) to make people feel good. It helps to increase blood circulation which is probably why ginseng is said to improve libido.

The main active ingredient responsible for the benefits of Panax Ginseng is known as ginsenosides. The amount of ginsenosides actually depends on many factors. Some of which are the soil that nourishes the root, the age of the root and storage conditions of the harvested ginseng.

Beware
Ginseng may not be suitable for some people including:

Hence do check with your doctor before taking ginseng. So are you curious about this dish or wish to try making it? 여기와 보세요! (Please view this!)

Source: Maangchi