CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP (DAK KALGUKSU)

A healthy Korean chicken noodle soup recipe!

Dak kalguksu (닭칼국수)  is one of the stamina foods like Samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup). You probably heard from somewhere that us Koreans like overcoming the summer heat with heated food (이열치열 or 以熱治熱).

Anyhow, because I haven’t cooked this food for a long time I had to revisit my recipe to make sure it is OK to present to you. I have to say, it was a really hot night when I made this hot soup!

Nonetheles, it was so worth it when the hot soup settled into my stomach as it was quite comforting. I call it – “chicken soup magic”!

All of us were sweating as we sipped through this hot chicken soup, but we kept reminded each other that it’s good for our body. I am sure this dish will be good for those of you in cold weather to warm you up too. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS FOR KOREAN CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP (SERVES 3 TO 4)

Main

• 1.2kg whole chicken, cleaned
• 10 cups filtered water (enough to cover the chicken in a pot)
• 300g kalguksu noodles / or udon noodles
• Spice vegetables
• 3 stalks green onion (white part only)
• 5 cloves garlic
• 5 whole black peppers
• 40g peeled ginger

Chicken seasoning (mix these in a small bowl)

• 3 Tbsp green onion, thinly sliced
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1/2 Tbsp fine sea salt
• 1 Tbsp roasted sesame seeds
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper

 Seasoning sauce (mix these in a small bowl)

• 1 1/2 Tbsp Korean chili flakes (gochugaru)
• 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp rice wine
• 1/2 Tbsp Korean fish sauce
• 1 Tbsp filtered water
• 2 Tbsp green onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1/4 Tbsp brown sugar

HOW TO MAKE KOREAN CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

1. Rinse the chicken thoroughly in cold water.
2. Put the chicken into a pot and add the spice vegetables and the water. Boil it over medium low heat until the chicken is cooked (about 50 mins to 1 hour). While cooking, scoop out  floating oil and debris from the boiling broth as required.
3. Once the chicken is cooked take out the chicken and separate the meat from the bones and skin (keep the broth for later).
4. Tear the chicken meat into bite size pieces. Put it into a mixing bowl and add the chicken seasoning then mix them well.
5. In a separate pot, boil some water and add the noodles once it is boiling. Drain the noodles once they are 3/4 cooked.
6. Add the partly cooked noodles into the chicken broth and boil it until the noodles are cooked completely (about 3 mins).
7. Put the noodles and broth into a bowl, add the seasoned chicken on top. Add the red seasoning sauce on top of the chicken and serve. (If you prefer, you can skip this red seasoning sauce and use the salt to flavour instead.)

NOTE

1. 300g of Kalgulsu noodles might be too small if you and your family are big eaters.
2. You can prepare the chicken seasoning and red seasoning while the chicken is boiling to save some time.
3. You can also add other vegetables (e.g. zucchini and potatoes etc) to give more texture to the dish, then you will have to allow additional cooking time for them to be ready. These vegetables should be added before step 6 above.