How much does it cost to make samgyetang at home?

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The hottest period of Korean summer is approaching. "Chobok," the first of the three hottest days of the summer, is less than a week away — and for many Koreans, that means eating samgyetang, or ginseng chicken soup.

This year, cooking the dish at home with ingredients bought from a traditional market is expected to cost around 8,800 won (around $5.8) per serving.

According to market price research institute Korean Price Information, cooking the dish at home with ingredients bought from a traditional market is expected to cost 8,815 won per serving this year.

The institute surveyed prices for seven key ingredients used in the dish, including small whole chicken, ginseng, "chapssal" (sticky rice), garlic, chestnuts, green onions and medicinal herbs for the broth. The total was 2.8 percent lower than last year’s 36,230 won, working out to 8,815 won per serving.

The Korean Price Information said the decline was largely due to chappsal prices, which fell 23.3 percent from a year earlier, while prices for other ingredients remained unchanged.

However, the institute added that ingredient prices could rise after "jungbok," the second of the three hottest summer days, as this year’s monsoon season began later than usual and the country is expected to face record heat waves after the rainy season.

Eating samgyetang at restaurants, however, will be more expensive than a year earlier, even as ingredient costs have fallen. According to the Korea Consumer Agency’s price data portal, the average price of a bowl of samgyetang at restaurants in Seoul stood at 18,154 won in May, up 2.8 percent from 17,654 won a year earlier.

The growing gap between homemade and restaurant samgyetang is seen as a result of rising fixed costs, including rent and labor, which have continued to push up dining-out prices.

Lee Dong-hoon, a senior researcher at Korea Price Information, said samgyetang meal kits and home meal replacement products are increasingly available for one- and two-person households, priced at around 5,000 won to 9,000 won per serving.

“For those who find preparing the ingredients burdensome, using these products can be another option,” Lee said.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.