This chicken and chicken soup called Yeonggye-baeksuk in Korean (영계백숙) is a simple, communal dish that’s delicious, filling, and easy to share with many people. It uses a young chicken between 3 and 4 pounds which is boiled and then served with a rice porridge made from the broth.
I remember my grandmother on my father’s side making yeonggye-baeksuk when I was young. She had dozens of chickens running and playing in her yard, and she would pick one out, kill it by twisting its neck with her bare hands, and then put it in hot water to remove all its feathers before cutting it open and removing all its guts. My grandmother was a tough woman! I felt sorry for the the chicken but I was excited to have chicken and chicken porridge for dinner. When the chicken was boiling with lots of garlic, the smell spread through her whole village! I use ginseng in this recipe to boost your energy and to remove the chicken’s gamey flavor, but if you don’t have it you can skip it, it’s not essential.
You might be wondering what’s the difference between this recipe and the classic Korean ginseng chicken soup called samgyetang. They are similar in some ways but samgyetang is made with small cornish hen, about 1 to 1½ pound chicken, and each diner gets a small hen in their bowl. The hen is usually stuffed with rice and jujubes and ginseng is not skippable in that recipe. It’s also served all at once in a bowl, where yeonggye-baeksuk is traditionally served in stages.
I made a video for yeonggye-baeksuk when I travelled to Costa Rica in 2010 (woohoo! Time flies!) but I figured it was time to update and refine this recipe with exact measurements and film a new HD video for it. In that video I focused on the chicken soup, which is called dakjuk in Korean, but really this dish is all about the chicken we eat and the soup.
By the way, whenever I remake a video for a recipe, you can always find the old video linked from the sidebar. I can’t get rid of those videos, they are my life’s work and precious to me! I had a great time in Costa Rica.
I hope you enjoy this recipe with your friends and family!
Ingredients (Serves 4)
- a 3½ to 4 pound whole chicken, cleaned and pat dried
- 1 cup sweet rice (or substitute short grain rice), rinsed and soaked in cold water for 1 to 2 hours
- 2 large fresh ginseng roots (optional)
- 1 cup garlic cloves (150 grams)
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
For the onion mix dip:
- ½ cup sliced onion
- 4 green onions, sliced thinly diagonally
- 2 green chili peppers, chopped
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon Korean hot pepper flakes (gochugaru)
For the salt dip:
- 1 tablespoons kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
Optional vegetables
- 1 cucumber, cut into about 3 inch sticks
- 4 to 5 crispy and mild green chili peppers
- About ¼ cup ssamjang
Directions
Cook the chicken:
- Place the chicken in a large heavy pot. I use my 6½ quart heavy pot.
- Add garlic, ginseng, and 10 cups of water. Cover and cook for 20 minutes over medium high heat until vigorously boiling.
- Reduce the heat to medium low and cook another 50 minutes until the chicken is tender and fully cooked. While it’s cooking you can make 2 kinds of dip.
Onion mix dip:
- Combine onion, green onion, green chili pepper, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame seeds, sugar, and hot pepper flakes in a bowl.
- Mix it well with a spoon.
- Cover and refrigerate until ready for use.
Salt dip:
- Combine salt, ground black pepper, and sesame seeds in a small bowl.
- Mix evenly and set aside.
Take out the chicken and make soup:
- Transfer the chicken along with the ginseng to a large platter. Place it on the table and let it cool down.
- Remove any floating fat with a large spoon and discard.
- Drain the rice and add it to the broth. Stir it a few times with a ladle or a wooden spoon.
- Cover and cook for 20 minutes over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until the rice is fully cooked and tender.
Serve the chicken first:
- While the chicken soup is boiling, serve the chicken with the 2 kinds of dip, kimchi, vegetables, and ssamjang. Prepare individual plates so that they can take some of the chicken and dip it. Be sure to eat the ginseng.
Serve the soup:
- Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped green onion. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with the chicken and side dishes already in progress.
How many chicken breasts should I use for this recipe instead of whole chicken?
3½ to 4 pounds…
Made it with black garlic and it was sooooo delicious. Love your recipes and videos Maangchi!
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It looks great!
Sadly, I was unable to find fresh ginseng at the two Korean markets my wife and I know of here. All I could find was dried stuff for making samgyetang. Happily, one of the Korean markets DID sell a large packet of dried Chinese herbs. The packet stated, in Korean, AmNamu Baeksuk — but there was a lot more in that packet than dried ginseng. My wife seemed to believe it contained the proper herbs, but I wish I knew what some of the other herbs were — especially the ones that looked like big slices of wood. Any idea???
I tried to attach a picture of the package, but the site kept blocking me (some online security service)
I’m so excited! I literally watched the first video yesterday and was wanting to make this! I can’t wait to try this updated recipe :)
Fresh ginseng is almost impossible to find. I recommend ginseng powder and some small parsnips to stuff the game hen with. Koreans may enjoy this in the summer but it’s a perfect winter dish for us in the west.
Glad I finally got to try out this recipe and that I had some leftover chicken legs on hand. I think I did pretty well for my first time, came out a little bit thicker than I wanted but I just added more water to thin it out. And I left the chicken in the porridge instead of on the side because to be honest I was feeling a little bit lazy after 2 hours of work. But it turned out fine! Next time I will definitely have it on the side with dipping sauce and kimchi. Thank you for such a simple recipe.
Though I’d love to see this modified for the crock pot, too. Not everyone has even 2 hrs free to cook so being able to prepare this the morning of or night before would be really helpful.
My mum was in the hospital for 2 months recently and was having a hard time eating. For a while, this was all she wanted because it was tasty, healthy and she could keep it down easily. Thank you for this wonderful recipe! It felt great to bring her something wholesome and homemade.
I made a few changes. As it’s hard to dip the chicken separately when one is sitting up in bed, I just put the pieces of chicken back into the porridge. I also added a little bit if ginger when I added the rice. I reduced the garlic slightly. I used around 3 bulbs of garlic instead of 1.5 cups which came to a bit more than that… also, I used a litre of chicken stock to replace some of the water.
In any case, it was super delicious!!!! New staple food for me too.
I think you’re keeping my boyfriend and me fed! We loved this simple, amazing recipe. Such a cheap dinner and lots of leftovers!
(Also, I think my picture is trippy. That’s probably because the table it’s on is a mirror.)
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I made a huge pot and ate nothing but this and Kimchi while I was sick this weekend. I feel so much better!
I love Korean food and I miss it. Thanks for making it so easy for foreigners to learn how to make such wonderful food.
Maangchi,
If I used boneless chicken breasts instead of a whole chicken, would the recipe be the same?
Hi, as you can see I’m not Maangchi, but I made these porridge a few days ago with boneless chicken ( I made half of this portion) and I made it without modifying this recipe, and it turned out really well.
Good luck with making your porridge ( or maybe you’ve already done it, because you posted your comment a month ago)
In case anyone else is wondering – I would use some chicken stock in place of part of the water since the dark meat and bones really make the stock for the porridge.
I made this for my mommy and my siblings when they were sick, they enjoyed it ! It was really easy to follow and it tasted really good . Thank you <3
Hi Maangchi! You are the cooking teacher I wish I had growing up. I’m Korean and I have my own family to feed now. But I never learned to cook Korean food because my grandmother never used a recipe! LOL. Thank you for allowing me to keep some traditions alive with this dakguk recipe! Sometimes, for fun, I like to throw in some goji berries and veggies into the soup.
Maangchi,
Thank you so much for your informative site! I see the locals in the photos sharing your meal. Didn’t they tell you this dish resembles their “yellow chicken rice” When I had their food, it reminded me of this dish. Both very tasty!
I want to ask you (or any reader) what is the Korean name of a dish similar to this? I was watching a Korean drama the other day and they were having this for dinner. Mmm I forgot the name of this dish – I need its Korean name so I can find it if not I will make it myself :) Basically its a rice porridge, thicker than this dish, with small pieces of (leftover) chicken meat or beef. I am more used to the beef variety and if I know the name maybe I can get it :)
Thanks again – keep up the good work – and enjoy your holidays!