Overview
In a quiet countryside of Damyang, between the rice paddies and farms emerges a small restaurant. There is nothing fancy or spectacular about this restaurant but its parking lot is packed with cars. These cars are from the guests who are traveling from other cities and even overseas to get a taste of Younggyetang, or hot chicken soup, at Dalbit Tteurak meaning Moonlight Garden. Younggye means a young hen weighing between 450 and 500 grams, which is extremely difficult to find. The young hen’s warm nature and the cold nature of the bamboo shoot from Damyang forms a harmony in this chicken soup’s deep and light taste. Cho Hye-kyung, who is a master craftsman cook certified by the South Korean government, recalls from her childhood when her grandmother cooked the chicken soup by boiling sticky rice and young hen in the Korean iron pot. Later, her father continued the family business and invented a recipe of the chicken soup with mung beans and bamboo shoot seasoned with bamboo salts. As a third generation in her family to continue the family business, Cho Hye Kyung uses a traditional method from an ancient document. She boils the entire hen in a soup and adds various medical herbs to get clear soup. She has replaced ginseng, a typical ingredient in Samgyetang, another Korean chicken soup, with bamboo shoot. Perhaps it’s the belief that the soup eases stress and restores energy while it does magic to a high blood pressure and cancer prevention. Or perhaps it’s the deep and light taste that is unmatched elsewhere. Today Dalbit Tteurak is crowded with guests waiting for the chicken soup.
Product Information
A healthy soup made with a whole chicken, medical herbs, and bamboo shoots according to a traditional recipe in order to not lose nutritional value even on high heat.