Samgyetang

Ingredients

• 2 poussins or small spring chickens, about 500g each
• 150g glutinous rice (sweet rice)
• 2 fresh Korean ginseng roots, or 4 dried ginseng slices
• 4 dried jujubes
• 12 garlic cloves, peeled
• 20g dried astragalus root, optional
• 8 chestnuts, peeled, optional
• 2 litres cold water
• 4 spring onions, sliced
• Fine sea salt, for the table
• Coarsely ground black pepper, for the table

Before you cook

• Rinse the glutinous rice and soak it in cold water for 1 hour, then drain it well
• Rinse the poussins inside and out and trim away any loose fat at the cavity opening
• Scrub the ginseng roots and trim off the thin hairy tips
• Peel the garlic and slice the spring onions

Steps

1. Stuff each poussin with half the drained rice, one ginseng root, two jujubes and four garlic cloves, filling the cavity only about two thirds full so the rice has room to swell.
2. Cross the legs of each bird and tuck one drumstick through a small slit cut in the skin near the other, or tie the legs closed with kitchen string.
3. Set both birds breast side up in a deep pot just wide enough to hold them.
4. Add the remaining garlic, the astragalus and the chestnuts if using.
5. Pour in the cold water so it covers the birds by about 2cm.
6. Bring the pot to a boil over high heat, which takes around 15 minutes.
7. Skim the grey foam from the surface carefully until the liquid runs clear.
8. Lower the heat to a bare simmer, cover the pot, and cook for 1 hour.
9. Check that the rice inside is tender and the leg meat pulls easily from the bone, and simmer for up to 20 minutes more if not.
10. Lift each bird into a deep bowl using two spoons so it does not fall apart.
11. Ladle the milky broth over the top and scatter with spring onions.
12. Serve with small dishes of salt and black pepper, and tell everyone to season their own broth spoonful by spoonful.