Korean food
Traditional food that Koreans eat a lot in summer: Samgyetang
2023. 5. 30.
Uyen Cao

Do you have any friends who came to Korea and ate Samgyetang? It's cool in the summer and I think of that kind of food a lot. But in Korea, one of the most popular summer foods is Samgyetang! Why? When you first hear it, this question comes to mind. So let's find out why Koreans eat hot Samgyetang in the hot summer?

What kind of dish is Samgyetang?

Samgyetang is a chicken dish made by boiling young chicken with glutinous rice, ginseng, dates, chestnuts, and astragalus. As the name suggests, if there is no ginseng in it, it is not Samgyetang. In other words, ginseng is essential!. It is famous as Korea's representative health food, especially in summer, eaten on Dog Day. As the name suggests, the main ingredients are ginseng and chicken. Young chicken and 6-year-old wild ginseng must be added to make it a proper dish, but in reality, it is common to make it with medium-sized chicks grown for about 35 days and 3-4-year-old camphor ginseng. It is usually made by filling the stomach with glutinous rice, jujube, ginseng, and antlers, but it is also boiled separately in soup. There is also Samgyejuk, which is boiled without filling.

History of Samgyetang

During the Japanese colonial era, many wealthy families added ginseng powder to white soup or chicken broth, which was the beginning of today's Samgyetang. However, at the time, it was at the level of being considered as a kind of chicken soup in addition to white soup. Then, in the 1950s, a restaurant selling 'Gyesamtang' appeared, and after the Korean War, the name Samgyetang came out in the 1960s.

In the 1960s, when refrigerators became popular and the distribution method was improved, it became possible to store ginseng for a long time, so the form of cooking was changed by adding dried ginseng instead of ginseng powder to Samgyetang, and the name changed accordingly, and it became the current Samgyetang. Today, Samgyetang has the same recipe of boiling chicken, but fresh ginseng is mainly used instead of dried ginseng, and side branches are sometimes added.

「Source: Refer to Namu Wiki Samgyetang article」

Why Koreans eat a lot of Samgyetang in summer

In Korea, there is a saying that you should eat Samgyetang on Chobok. There is a saying that you can eat Samgyetang in summer and take care of yourself. Samgyetang is said to have been eaten in the summer when there was no air conditioner or fan to stay healthy in the summer. In the hot summer, people ate hot food to warm themselves up and adjust their body temperature to the outside temperature.

In the summer, when the weather is hot, sweat is released to regulate body temperature. In order to sweat, blood collects on the surface of the skin, and the stomach side is said to be cold due to lack of blood. The ginseng in Samgyetang replenishes energy in the cold stomach, and the chicken has the effect of blocking pores, giving energy to the stomach and preventing energy from escaping through the pores.

Samgyetang is not a food that can only be eaten in summer, but Koreans also eat Samgyetang in other seasons. It's good for the body and tastes good, so it's good to eat it anytime. Everyone, if you haven't tried samgyetang yet, give it a try~. This is a really delicious Korean traditional food!

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#여름음식
#삼계탕
#전통음식
#삼계탕의효능
#역사
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Uyen Cao
어서와용~ 한국 유학 어떤지 궁금해요? 알려 줄게용~~ㅎㅎ