Korean Chicken Bone Broth Soup
Quick answer
Dak-gomtang is a Korean clear chicken bone broth soup made by simmering a whole chicken with onion, garlic, and ginger over medium-low heat for at least fifty minutes.
What makes this special
- Dak-gomtang features a gentle, medium-low simmered chicken bone broth with hand-shredded lean meat.
- Bones returned to pot for 15 minutes after deboning give the broth gentle body
- Broth gels in the fridge; skimming the fat layer after chilling clarifies the flavor
Key ingredients
Core cooking flow
- 1 Thoroughly remove the excess fat near the tail and clean any blood clots ins...
- 2 Place the prepared chicken in a large pot with 2600ml water, 1 onion, 8 garl...
- 3 Once boiling, carefully skim off the rising foam and reduce to medium-low heat.
Dak-gomtang is a Korean clear chicken bone broth soup made by simmering a whole chicken with onion, garlic, and ginger over medium-low heat for at least fifty minutes. After the meat is removed and hand-shredded, the bones return to the pot for another fifteen minutes, releasing gelatin that gives the broth a silky body. When refrigerated, the liquid sets into a soft gel, a sign of its collagen richness. Skimming the fat layer after refrigeration produces a noticeably cleaner, clearer taste on reheating. The broth is seasoned simply with soup soy sauce and salt, and sliced green onion added at the end brings a fresh, sharp contrast to the mellow chicken flavor. Unlike samgyetang, which is stuffed with ginseng and glutinous rice, dak-gomtang relies entirely on the chicken itself for depth, representing a more restrained approach to Korean restorative cooking. The soup dates back to the Joseon era and is traditionally eaten during convalescence or hot summer days. Adding cooked rice or thin noodles turns it into a complete one-bowl meal.
Instructions
Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.
- 1Step
Thoroughly remove the excess fat near the tail and clean any blood clots inside the 1.2kg chicken, then rinse once in cold water to ensure a clean flavor.
- 2Control
Place the prepared chicken in a large pot with 2600ml water, 1 onion, 8 garlic cloves, and 20g of sliced ginger, then start heating over high heat until it reaches a boil.
- 3Control
Once boiling, carefully skim off the rising foam and reduce to medium-low heat.
Simmer for 50 minutes with the lid slightly open to maintain a clear, transparent broth without cloudiness.
- 4Control
Remove the cooked chicken and shred the meat along the natural grain.
Return the bones to the pot and simmer for 15 more minutes to extract the rich gelatin and deep flavor.
- 5Season
Remove the bones and aromatics like onion from the broth using a fine mesh strainer.
Season the liquid with 1 tablespoon of soup soy sauce and 1 teaspoon of salt for depth.
- 6Finish
Add the shredded chicken and 2 sliced green onion stalks back into the broth.
Boil on high heat for 3 minutes until the fresh onion aroma infuses the soup, then serve.
After the steps
Pick a recipe that fits this dish.
Continue with shared ingredients, meal pairings, or a similar method.
Recipes That Go Well With This
More Soups →Based on shared ingredients and meal pairing
Korean Ginger Chicken Gomtang
This ginger chicken gomtang is a clear, restorative Korean soup made by simmering a whole chicken low and slow with fresh ginger, onion, garlic, and green onion until the broth turns golden and develops a quietly complex flavor. Unlike beef-bone soups, which derive their richness from marrow and connective tissue, chicken gomtang achieves its depth through the prolonged extraction of collagen and gelatin from the bones and skin, resulting in a broth that coats the palate softly without feeling heavy. The ginger is added early so its sharp, warming oils can fully disperse through the liquid, while sliced onion gradually sweetens the broth as it cooks down. Once the broth is strained, it is remarkably clean-tasting despite its depth: a quality that Korean cooks describe as siwonhada, a coolness and clarity that settles the stomach while nourishing the body. The chicken is pulled from the bones and shredded along the grain into generous pieces before being returned to the bowl. Seasoning is kept minimal, a small pour of soup soy sauce, a pinch of salt, and a very generous amount of freshly cracked black pepper, whose heat amplifies the ginger and warms the whole dish. Korean households reach for this soup when someone is ill or recovering from fatigue, but it is equally at home as a restorative weekday dinner or a refined first course when served in small portions before a larger meal.
Korean Chicken and Neungi Mushroom Soup
Neungi-dak-gomtang is a Korean chicken soup elevated by neungi mushrooms, a wild variety prized for their intense, almost truffle-like fragrance. The chicken is blanched first to remove impurities, then simmered for fifty minutes with onion, garlic, and ginger to build a clear, rich stock. After straining, the torn chicken meat is returned to the pot along with the neungi mushrooms, which steep in the hot broth for fifteen minutes - long enough to release their deep, earthy perfume without losing its complexity. The mushroom's aroma permeates the entire liquid, transforming an already satisfying chicken soup into something far more layered and aromatic. Seasoning is kept to soup soy sauce and salt, ensuring nothing competes with the interplay between poultry richness and mushroom fragrance. In Korea, this soup is considered both nourishing and luxurious, often served during autumn when neungi mushrooms are freshly foraged.
Korean Mapo Tofu Rice Bowl
Soft tofu and ground pork are cooked in a Sichuan-inspired doubanjiang sauce, then ladled over steamed rice. Blanching the tofu in salted water firms it up so the cubes hold their shape through stir-frying. The fermented heat of doubanjiang builds layers of flavor alongside the pork, and a starch slurry thickens everything into a glossy sauce that clings to each grain of rice. A finishing drizzle of sesame oil rounds out the dish, and a pinch of Sichuan pepper adds authentic numbing heat.
Korean Chicken Radish Soup
Dak mu-guk is a Korean chicken and radish soup that produces a clear, deeply flavored broth from two simple main ingredients. Chicken thigh meat, cut into bite-sized pieces, is blanched for one minute in boiling water before the main simmer - this step removes impurities and blood, which is the most reliable way to achieve a transparent broth rather than a cloudy one. Onion and ginger then build the aromatic backbone over twenty minutes of gentle, low heat, allowing the chicken's natural depth to develop without aggressive boiling. The radish is cut into thin, flat squares rather than thick slabs; this shape turns translucent within ten minutes and releases its clean sweetness into the liquid quickly and evenly. Soup soy sauce and salt season the broth, and diagonally sliced green onion goes in just before the heat is turned off to preserve its color and mild bite. The result balances the richness of chicken stock against the cool, vegetal sweetness of radish in a soup that is light enough to eat when recovering from illness yet satisfying as an everyday meal.
Serve with this
Korean Braised Perilla Leaves
Kkaennip jorim layers fresh perilla leaves with a soy-based sauce and simmers them gently - a banchan built for make-ahead storage. Kkaennip (perilla) is a distinctly Korean herb with an aromatic intensity comparable to basil or mint, yet it is rarely found outside Korean cuisine. The technique stacks five to six leaves at a time, spooning sauce between each layer so every leaf seasons evenly. Simmering on medium-low heat for eight to ten minutes wilts the leaves into soft, pliable sheets that wrap neatly around a mound of rice. The sauce combines soy sauce, gochugaru, sugar, garlic, and sesame oil - the last adding a nutty richness that complements the herb's own perfume. Refrigerated in an airtight container, kkaennip jorim lasts up to two weeks, making it one of the most economical banchan to batch-prepare.
Korean Pickled Green Onion
Daepa jangajji is a quick Korean pickle made by cutting large green onions into five-centimeter lengths and submerging them in a cooled brine of soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar with garlic and dried chili. Using primarily the white portions yields a firmer, crisper result, and the brine must be cooled thoroughly before pouring to prevent the onions from wilting prematurely. The soy and vinegar together pull back the raw sharpness of the green onion while leaving its aromatic depth intact. Two days of refrigeration allow the seasoning to penetrate evenly throughout each piece. The result is a sharp, savory condiment that cuts through the fat of grilled pork belly or other rich meats, and its simple ingredient list makes it one of the most practical quick-pickles to keep on hand.
Korean Seaweed Oyster Pancake
Fresh oysters and rehydrated seaweed folded into a pancake batter and pan-fried into a jeon packed with ocean flavor. As the oysters cook, they release their briny juices into the batter, spreading their concentrated umami through every bite. The seaweed provides a soft, slightly slippery contrast in texture against the crisp outer surface. Soup soy sauce seasons the batter cleanly without competing with the seafood, while minced red chili adds color and a measured heat. Garlic deepens the marine aroma. This jeon is at its best during winter when oysters are plump and full in flavor.
Similar recipes
Gomtang (Slow-Simmered Ox Bone Beef Soup)
Gomtang is a Korean bone soup made by simmering beef leg bones and brisket in water for five to six hours or longer until the broth turns opaque and milky white. The prolonged cooking extracts collagen, marrow, and fat from the bones, giving the liquid a creamy texture and a deep beefy flavor that needs only salt and black pepper to taste complete. Before the long simmer begins, the bones should be soaked in cold water for at least an hour to draw out the blood, then parboiled briefly in a fresh pot of water and rinsed clean so that the final broth comes out clear and free of off flavors. The brisket is removed partway through cooking, sliced thin against the grain, and arranged on top of the steaming soup for serving. Sliced green onion and a generous shake of black pepper cut cleanly through the richness of the milky broth. The most common way to eat gomtang is with a bowl of steamed rice submerged directly into the soup, letting the grains soak up all the flavor. This is slow food in the truest sense - the hours of effort yield a pot that can sustain a family across two meals - and it remains one of the dishes Koreans reach for instinctively when the cold sets in.
Korean Chicken Knife-Cut Noodle Soup
A whole chicken is simmered with green onion, garlic, and ginger until the broth turns opaque, deeply savory, and rich with collagen, then hand-cut wheat noodles are cooked directly in that liquid. Boiling the noodles in the broth rather than separately is the defining technique: the starch they release naturally thickens the soup into a silky, coating consistency, and the noodles themselves absorb the concentrated chicken flavor at every surface. Shredded chicken, pulled apart along the grain, goes on top just before serving. Potato and zucchini are added during the final minutes for their gentle sweetness and soft texture. A generous amount of ground black pepper stirred in or sprinkled on top sharpens the chicken aroma and adds a mild warmth that the broth on its own does not carry. Unlike ramyeon or rice noodle dishes, dak-kalguksu has no complex seasoning beyond salt, pepper, and the depth built from the chicken itself, making it one of the most comforting and straightforward noodle soups in Korean home cooking.
Korean Spicy Chicken Soup Noodles
This spicy Korean noodle soup is built on dakgaejang, a chicken version of the classic beef yukgaejang. Whole chicken is poached until tender, the meat hand-shredded along the grain, then returned to the pot and simmered again with gochugaru, garlic, sesame oil, and sliced scallion. The resulting broth is vivid red and assertively spicy, yet the clean chicken stock underneath keeps the heat from turning harsh or muddy. Bean sprouts added just before serving retain their crunch and provide a cool, crisp contrast to the fiery liquid. Both thin somyeon and medium-thickness noodles work well, soaking up the spiced broth without dissolving too quickly. Swirling in a beaten egg softens the broth and adds a silkier body; adding cooked rice turns the bowl into a complete, filling meal. The combination of protein, capsaicin-driven warmth, and the mild diaphoretic effect of chili makes this a go-to remedy for hangovers and chills alike.
Tips
Nutrition (per serving)
Variations
Chicken Bone Broth Soup with Extra Scallions
Long-simmered chicken broth is paired with generous scallions in this soup. The result is warm, savory, and fresh with onion aroma.
Ginger Chicken Gomtang
Chicken gomtang is brightened with ginger for a clean, warming profile. The broth stays deep and savory with a fresh spicy note.