Heartwarming Instant Pot Samgyetang (Ginseng Chicken Soup)
Easy Instant Pot Samgyetang with Cornish Game Hens (featuring tips for Samgyetang soup ingredients)
As the weather turns chilly, nothing beats a warm, comforting bowl of soup. Today, a glance into my pantry revealed the perfect solution: ‘Samgyetang soup ingredients’! I’ve decided to make Samgyetang, a nourishing Korean ginseng chicken soup. Cornish hens, often sold frozen at places like Costco, are ideal for individual servings of Samgyetang. (If you have a smaller appetite, one hen can serve two.) Their tender meat and rich broth make them versatile for other dishes like Dakbokkeumtang (spicy braised chicken) too.
Main Ingredients
- 1 Cornish hen (for Samgyetang)
- 1 pack of pre-made Samgyetang soup ingredients
- 6 Tbsp glutinous rice
- 1 jujube (date)
- 1 whole garlic bulb
- 1 piece of ginseng (fresh or dried)
- Egg garnish (thinly sliced yellow and white omelet)
- Scallions (finely chopped)
- Salt (to taste)
- Black pepper (optional)
Cooking Instructions
Step 1
Here are the ‘Samgyetang soup ingredients’ readily available at Korean markets. They are all domestic products, ensuring quality. Typically, this pack includes ingredients like Astragalus root (Hwanggi), jujube, Cnidium officinale (Cheongung), Mulberry twig (Sanppongnamu), and Achyranthes bidentata (Ogapi).
Step 2
Rinse the ingredients from the Samgyetang soup pack – Astragalus root, jujube, Cnidium officinale, Mulberry twig, and Achyranthes bidentata – under running water.
Step 3
Pour 1,500ml of water into your Instant Pot. Add half (1/2) of the Samgyetang soup ingredients. With the lid open, press the ‘Sauté’ function and bring the water to a rolling boil to extract the broth’s flavor.
Step 4
While the broth is boiling, thoroughly rinse the Cornish hen, both inside and out. It’s a good idea to remove any excess fat or the tail part, as this will result in a clearer, cleaner-tasting broth.
Step 5
Soak 6 tablespoons of glutinous rice in water for about 10 minutes. Once softened, carefully stuff the rice, along with the jujube, whole garlic bulb, and ginseng, into the cavity of the hen.
Step 6
After stuffing the hen, make a small incision near the tail and tuck the legs into this opening. This technique helps to keep the stuffing inside and maintains a neat presentation during cooking.
Step 7
See how neatly the legs are tucked in, giving the hen a tidy shape?
Step 8
Carefully place the stuffed hen into the hot broth in the Instant Pot. Close the lid, select the ‘Pressure Cook’ function, and set the timer for 20 minutes to cook until tender.
Step 9
Voila! After 20 minutes, you have a beautifully cooked Samgyetang with a rich, savory broth and incredibly tender chicken meat.
Step 10
Skim off any excess fat from the surface of the soup. Transfer the hen to a serving bowl. For a vibrant garnish, thinly julienne the yellow and white egg omelet and sprinkle it over the hen. Finally, add finely chopped scallions for a touch of freshness and color. Season the broth with salt to your liking and add a dash of black pepper if desired. Enjoying the succulent chicken and chewy glutinous rice with the hot, nourishing broth will warm you from the inside out, leaving you feeling revitalized and healthy. It’s the perfect tonic for the whole family!
