Sam Gye Tang aka Korean Chicken Soup

This beats Campbell’s anyday!

Sam gye tang which literally translates to gingseng chicken soup is traditionally served in the summer for its nutrients, which replaces those lost through excessive sweating and physical exertion during the HOT & VERY HUMID summers in Korea.

The use of red dates and gingseng is thought to be a complementary combination.  The red dates improve blood circulation and the ginseng helps rid of toxins in your blood. Then there’s the added benefits of the whole chicken.

This is super easy, filling and comforting.

Ingredients:

2 cornish hens or 1 small chicken

5-6 red dates

2 handfuls of whole garlic cloves

4-5 1 inch pieces of fresh ginger

3-4 cups chap sal (glutinous rice) this is different than regular asian rice. it’s sweeter and stickier.

1) Rinse and add cold water to the sweet rice and set it aside.  Let the rice soak up the water.

2) Rinse the hens or chicken in cold water and remove all the giblets and stuff.  Stuff the cavity with 3 cloves of garlic and 2 pieces of fresh ginger in each hen or 5 cloves and 2 pieces of fresh ginger in one chicken.

3) Fill the rest of the cavity with rice and tie shut or use toothpicks to close the cavity.

4) In a large stock pot, cover the hens or chicken with plenty of water.  Throughout the cooking process you do not want to keep adding water because it will dilute the broth so make sure you add enough water and during the cooking process make sure too much water doesn’t evaporate off (this is where adjusted the heat constantly is important). Sorry guys, but you can’t just cover it and leave it be and go do errands

5) Cover the pot  but not all the way – leave a little space open and leave on for 30 minutes on high heat.

6) After 30 minutes, the water should be boiling, using a strainer scoop out some of the fat and gunk.

7) Lower the heat to medium and cover but not all the way for another 30 minutes and flip over the chicken or hens.

8)  Check the water level to make sure not too much is evaporating and strain out any fat.

9) Lower the heat to low and fully cover for an hour. (here you can take a break )

10) After an hour, the broth should be a yellow color. Take the chicken out and add the remaining rice to the broth, bring the heat to medium high, cover and bring to a boil for about 10 minutes or until the rice is cooked.

11) Cut up the chicken and serve with broth and rice.

*Steps 5-9 are important.  You want to constantly check the temperature and the water level to make sure not too much water is boiling off. Try not to add any water, but if the water gets too low you might have to.

**Traditionally, my mom served this with 2 options for flavoring. Salt to personal taste or a soy sauce mixture called yang yum jjang.

Soy Sauce Mixture:

5 garlic cloves minced

4-5 green onions chopped

2 tsps roasted sesame seeds

2-3 tsps of red pepper flakes (this amount will not be spicy it’s ok don’t make this optional it won’t taste the same)

2/3 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup sesame seed oil

Mix well and let the green onions and garlic marinate for at least an hour.

About one tsp should flavor your chicken soup.

Dexter & Dinner

Trav’s been wanting to try out this recipe for weeks now and the other night we had quite the feast with a Dexter marathon.

Menu:

Bacon wrapped scallops

Heirloom tomato salad with goat cheese

All by himself and the scallop was cooked perfectly. It’s hard to not overcook scallops and at the same time get the bacon to get nice and crispy. Perfect Trav – are you sure you’ve never made these before? It was delicious, thanks!

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

These are incredibly easy.  Don’t be intimidated! Plus it’s really all about the dipping sauces.

Ingredients:

Shrimp (i’d say about 4 for each roll)

Mint

Cilantro

Lettuce

Thai basil (or regular basil)

Rice vermicelli

Rice paper

Hoisin sauce

Garlic chili sauce

Fish sauce

Garlic

Sugar

Peanuts

Crunchy Peanut Butter hahaha

Spring Rolls:

1) In boiling water, add salt and cook the shrimp and set aside to cool.

2) In boiling water, cook the rice vermicelli.  Should take less than 5 minutes.

3) In a large bowl, fill with hot water (pretty hot but not so hot that it’ll burn your fingers)

4) Dip the rice paper in the hot water for a about 10 seconds and lay down on cutting board.

5) First lay down about 4 shrimp, then layer on some noodles, cilantro, basil, mint and lettuce (in the middle and leave about 2 inches on the side.  Don’t be shy with the greens. It’ll add a nice balance of crunchiness and freshness.

6) Holding the filling in place with one hand and fold over the bottom half tightly. Then fold in the sides and roll it up. (like a burrito)

Tips: Work quickly because the rice paper will start to get sticky. Also, try to trim down the basil and cilantro stems because they can poke through the rice paper and tear.

Dipping Sauces:

Peanut Sauce:

Add 4 tablespoons of hoisin sauce

1 tbsp of peanut butter (crunchy)

1/2 tbsp of garlic chili sauce

1 tbsp of chopped peanuts

Mix all together.

Fish Sauce:

Mix 3-4 tbsps fish sauce

1/2 cup of water

1 garlic clove minced

1/2 tbsp garlic chili sauce (up to you how spicy you want it)

4-5 tbsps sugar

Taste and if it is too salty adjust with more water and more sugar.

I forgot to take pictures but this is what they look like.

Bacon & Leek Tart

who doesn’t love puff pastry? this is super easy.

Ingredients:

8 slices of bacon, chopped in about 2 inch pieces

2 leeks, chopped

1 puff pastry (there’s usually 2 in a package – one makes about 2 -4 servings closer to 2)

fontina cheese, about 1-2 cups

1) Thaw out the puff pastry  (follow instructions on the box)

2) In a pan, cook the bacon until crispy about 6 minutes.

3) Pour out most of the bacon fat. Leave a little for the leeks.  Cook the leeks for about 3 minutes.

4) On a cookie pan, lay down some parchment paper and lay down the puff pastry, then layer on the cheese, bacon, leeks on top of the puff pastry and top with more cheese.

5) Pop in the oven at 375 for 25 minutes.

see? so easy!