If you visit South Korea in July or August, you may be surprised to see long lines outside restaurants serving steaming hot chicken soup. While many visitors look for ice cream or cold noodles to cool down, Koreans traditionally eat samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup) during the hottest days of the year.
These special days are called Sambok (삼복) and include Chobok, Jungbok, and Malbok. According to traditional belief, eating nutritious, warming foods helps replace the energy lost through sweating. The idea is known as 이열치열 (iyeolchiyeol)—“fight heat with heat.”
A typical bowl of samgyetang contains a young chicken stuffed with sticky rice, garlic, jujubes, and Korean ginseng. The soup is rich, comforting, and believed to boost stamina during Korea’s humid summer.
Even today, famous samgyetang restaurants in Seoul often have lines stretching down the street on Chobok as locals continue this centuries-old tradition. For travelers, trying samgyetang during Sambok is one of the most authentic seasonal food experiences in Korea.
Vocabulary
- 삼계탕 samgyetang Ginseng chicken soup
- 삼복 sambok The three hottest days of summer
- 초복 chobok First hottest day
- 이열치열 iyeolchiyeol Fight heat with heat
- 인삼 insam Korean ginseng
