Ginseng Chicken With Glutinous Rice Samkye Tang Food

SAMGYETANG (GINSENG CHICKEN SOUP)

Steps:

• Clean the chicken. Do not cut off the neck and/or tail, if they are still attached. They help keep the rice inside the cavity. Place the cleaned chicken on a cutting board or a large plate. Clean the inside of the cavity with a paper towel to remove any blood. Fold the attached neck into the cavity to close the hole.
• Stuff the cavity with the sweet rice and a couple of garlic cloves, leaving room (about 1/4 of the cavity) for the rice to expand as it cooks. You can also cut off some offshoots of the ginseng and add to the cavity if you like.
• To keep the rice inside the cavity while being cooked, use of one of these two methods: (1) Make a small cut through the thick skin part between one thigh and the cavity opening, but not too close to the edge. Then, use your finger to expand the hole enough to fit the end part of a leg. Bring the other leg over, and insert the end part through the hole to keep the legs crossed together, tucking the tail in to close the opening (see the photos above); or (2) Simply cross the legs and tie together with kitchen twine. Tightly close the cavity with a toothpick if necessary.
• In a medium size pot, place the chicken and add 5 to 6 cups (or enough to cover most of the chicken) of water or chicken stock. Add the garlic, ginger, jujubes, and ginseng. If the chicken came with the neck that's been cut off, add to the pot. Also add the extra sweet rice to thicken the soup or in a herb bag to cook separately, if desired.
• Bring it to a boil over medium high heat. Skim off the foam on top. Cover, and boil for 15 minutes. You can add more water/broth if needed. Reduce the heat to medium low and boil, covered, for about 25 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken. Turn the heat off and rest the chicken in the pot for about 10 minutes. See note 3.
• Serve piping hot with the chopped scallions and salt and pepper on the side so each person can season to taste.

SAMGYETANG (GINSENG CHICKEN SOUP)

Steps:

• Rinse the rice, then cover it with water and soak for at least 2 hours, or overnight. At the same time, soak the ginseng (if using dried; there's no need to soak fresh) and the red dates, separately.
• When rice, dried ginseng and jujubes have finished soaking, drain and rinse them. Remove the giblets from the hens and rub about 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt all over each, inside the cavity and underneath the skin.
• Put a couple of spoonfuls of soaked rice into each cavity, then add the ginseng root, jujubes and garlic, and finish stuffing with more rice. Some cooks truss the birds, but the rice will expand during cooking and keep most of the stuffing inside the cavity.
• Place the two hens and any remaining rice in a pot just big enough to hold them both. Add the white parts of the scallions. Fill the pot with 8 cups water or more, if needed, to cover most of the chicken.
• Cover, bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer gently for 1 hour, until the meat falls easily off the bone.
• Transfer each chicken to a large soup bowl and add the broth. Sprinkle chopped green scallions on top, and salt to taste at the table.

GINSENG CHICKEN WITH GLUTINOUS RICE (SAMKYE TANG)

Steps:

• Clean the chicken removing inside organs, lower leg and foot, wing tips, but leaving the body whole, wash well.
• Wash the glutinous rice and remove the skin from the garlic clove.
• Stuff the chicken cavity with the washed rice sliced ginseng, and garlic pieces and sew the body cavity shut.
• Place stuffed chicken in a large pot, add 20 or 10 cups of water and bring to a boil.
• Add the peeled chestnuts.
• Boil the chicken until it's hard.
• When the mixture is heated through, add season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.