It’s time to eat….

삼계탕 (SamGyeTang) ^__^ or in chinese letter : 蔘鷄湯

삼 (蔘) – Sam – is Ginseng (인삼 – InSam)
계 (鷄) – Gye – is Chicken (닭 – Tak)
탕 (湯) – Tang – is Soup [which is boiled]

So, 삼계탕 literally means boiled chicken soup with ginseng

Picture from wiki

Wiki said :

Samgyetang (Korean pronunciation: [samɡjetʰaŋ]) is a variety of guk or Korean soup, whose main ingredients are a whole young chicken and Korean ginseng.^[1] The dish’s name literally means “ginseng chicken soup“. To make it, a whole young chicken is stuffed with glutinous rice and boiled in a broth of Korean ginseng, dried seeded jujube fruits, garlic, and ginger. Depending on the recipe, other medicinal herbs such as wolfberry (gugija), Codonopsis pilosula (dangsam), and Angelica sinensis (danggwi) may also be added.

So, what’s so special bout it?

At first gotta introduce lil bit about 삼복 (SamBok – 三伏), the dictionary says it’s the hottest period of summer.
It consists of
초복 (ChoBok – 初伏) – the beginning,
중복 (JungBok – 中伏) – the middle,
말복 (MalBok – 末伏) – the last.

And today is 초복 (ChoBok) which is the first day/beginning of hottest period of summer, but somehow it’s raining outside

So ?

(based on what my friend told me)
In Korea, it’s their culture to eat SamGyeTang in those 3 days. It’s because the weather is hot and usually hot weather makes people easily get tired / weak. By eating SamGyeTang, people can be “charged” ^^. Cos it contains ginseng, which is healthy food, and it’s hot! So after eat this, people will be sweat but it’s refreshing.

My first experience to eat this is last year. That time i just went back from the mud festival and stayed in my friend’s home. And her mom made nyummy SamGyeTang for us. At first it’s quite strange to see rice put into the chicken, and eat it. But when i tried it, it was nyummy~ and after i finished it, wow i felt so fresh ^_^.
After playing whole day in the mud, it was quite tiring, but I was charged with the nyummy SamGyeTang ^_^  *thnx to my friend’s mom*

Well, actually i can eat it anytime, especially on summer. But somehow, get into the culture makes the life in here more interesting ^_^

Have a good SamGyeTang ^__^
*plan to eat it tonite~*