Samgyetang

 Definition

Samgyetang has long been the most favored invigorating food of Korea, particularly in summer.  The food is cooked by putting glutinous rice, ginseng, jujube and garlic into the inside of chicken and boiling them fully.  There are 24 subdivisions of the seasons in lunar calendar, and among the subdivisions, 'early Bok,' 'middle Bok,' and 'late Bok' come during June ~ July.

They are called 'three Boks,' covering the hottest days in Korea.  During those periods, people shed sweats heavily and lose appetite, thus easily falling into nutrition deficiency.  To overcome the sultry season, Korean ancestors had cooked and enjoyed samgyetang since the early days, and the tradition has been continued till now.

 Origin

In the beginning the food was cooked by boiling young chicken, which was called 'Yeonggye baeksuk' (young chicken boiled in plain water).  Later, ginseng was added and the name changed to 'Gyesamtang' (chicken ginseng soup), which was again changed into the present name of 'Samgyetang.'  The book 'Seoul Encyclopedia' explains in detail the process of name change; "Gyesamtang is a food stimulating appetite and supplying nutrition, cooked by fully boiling chicken added with ginseng.  Cut the belly of chicken, put ginseng inside it and  thread the incised part.  Among special dishes taken in summer, this food was normally enjoyed by people better off than those who ate dog soup.  Its name had long been called 'Gyesamtang,' but later when ginseng became popularized and its value appreciated even by foreigners, the name has changed into 'Samgyetang' with ginseng as the first syllable."   Like beef, chicken does not have fat in its sinew fiber.  It is a high-protein food smoothly digested and absorbed into human body.  Mixed in harmony with the medicinally-effective  ginseng as well as glutinous rice, chestnut and jujubes, it produces balanced nutrition,  and thus it is reckoned as an excellent stamina food.