This light, nourishing, rice-stuffed Korean Chicken (Ginseng) Soup (Samgyetang) serves two as a light lunch, or a one-pot solo supper, but is easily scaled up to serve a crowd.
Recipe in collaboration with Rachel Phipps.
Peel the garlic cloves and thinly slice the ginger into coins – don’t worry about peeling it!
Combine the soaked rice, 3 of the garlic cloves, 1/2 tsp of the sea salt and the dried dates from the samgyetang kit if you’re using whole aromatics rather than a sachet.
Stuff the rice filling into the cavity inside the poussin. To secure the filling, cross the legs of the chicken across the cavity entrance and tie them tightly together with a piece of kitchen string. If you don’t have any, un-dyed, plain white cotton from the sewing box or a hotel mending kit will do!
Place the stuffed bird, remaining garlic cloves, ginger coins and either the remaining dried aromatics or the samgyetang sachet in a heavy bottomed casserole or lidded saucepan. Cover so the poussin is just covered with cold water and add the remaining 1 tsp of salt.
Clap on the lid and set the pan over a high heat and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and leave to cook for 1 hour. Don’t be tempted to flip over the bird over to make sure the rice gets cooked through – this will dry out your breast!
Remove the poussin from the pan and season the broth to taste with a little more salt.
To serve, spoon a couple of ladles of the broth over the poussin either whole to serve one, or halved down the middle to serve two in a deep but shallow bowl.
Trim and slice the spring onions before sprinkling them over the top along with a light drizzle of toasted sesame oil. Serve the kimchi on the side.
