hi i'm josh i'm ollie and today we are
going to be trying some various types of
korean ginseng
ginseng
you had a lot of ginseng before but we
thought it would be good to bring in
some people who've never tried it before
our guests of today shandy shandy good
morning welcome guys welcome welcome
hello what are you doing with the place
for the nervous fact checkers can you
both confirm that you have
never tried ginseng i've never tried it
i have no idea what it is a little bit
of ginseng no i've never tried it no
i've never tried it okay let's start
with samgeta this is like a classic
korean dish made by literally boiling
like an entire chicken so with ham get
on you want to get in share some of this
soup
yeah interesting not an overpoweringly
strong flavor
the chicken's tender
wow yeah that was a hit yeah we're
struggling a little bit and what are you
guys doing i think this is fine we're
just butchering the chicken i think
that's bone that's bad you've literally
just picked up a boat oh look at that
there's a bit of real ginseng
that is ginseng root
oh look oh big big insane
it's like treasure hunting are you going
straight in try it just eat it all in
one the whole thing all right oh for you
[Music]
it's not guys an overpowering flavor
right it's almost like potatoes a bit
rooty a bit rooted right vegetable
earthy exactly
generally ginseng has had
not because of the taste it's hard for
the health benefits so in korea they've
really gone all out on the health
benefits they've found ways to take
ginseng cook it in ways that increase
the health benefits or unlock more of
that goodness i didn't even feel ill
before we started doing this but now i
feel a lot better oh yeah
in korea means ginseng it's like this
umbrella term for all different types of
ginseng
okay yeah
within in sam you get susan you also get
hongsam oh no
no i don't like foods that begin with
hong kong
it's nothing like hong kong hong sang is
basically ginseng that's been steamed
and dried to enhance the benefits what
i've got for you today is a selection of
four or five different ways of consuming
hong son
okay all right so first up this is
hongsam tong and it is extract because
this is an extract right it's condensed
so this is probably the most intense
form of ginseng it's easy you can have
it on the go whenever you want in the
day you know exactly what this is going
to taste like oh no ollie's had a hong
kong before
oh gosh
bubbles coming out mine look at this
so before we try this josh
what benefits can i expect is it gonna
be like popeye where he eats the spinach
no promises no guarantees but the reason
that so many koreans have ginseng what
it's supposed to do is boost your immune
system increase brain function oh i need
some of that and then increase energy
levels as well convey everyone come back
first try
[Music]
whoa give it a nice taste yeah
wow
that is strong
that is just
something it's something
it tastes it tastes kind of like coffee
in a way as it goes down you're like oh
oh i'm not sure about this and then the
aftertaste it's actually quite nice
weirdly there is a sweetness to it yeah
it is strong maybe the most it's intense
form of uh hong kong there it's good for
you right that's that's basically the
feeling i'm getting from this it's like
munching on like a head of broccoli as a
snack yeah so he loves that absolutely
yes yeah yeah you just munch on a giant
head of bro just drive yeah let's do
this do it every day yeah
every day
more or less i suggest you every day
i've never seen no not at work it'd be
weird to do it in public
next up we have maybe what is
the most common form of ginseng i've
ever seen in korea because in korean
like traditional markets you will go
into stores and the the walls are just
covered with bottles of this
yeah
oh my gosh bottles that looks insane
crazy look at that like if you just gave
me that i was like what is that like
it's some kind of incredibly expensive
vodka well it is ginseng alcohol i need
to drive later today so we're not going
to try the alcohol but instead i've got
ginseng tea
do we put milk in it no milk in this
sugar sugar no sugar oh it smells kind
of sweet it smells caramelly
[Music]
i am pleasantly surprised yeah oh yeah
you're okay with that this is quite
refreshing i think i thought ginseng was
going to be like a really powerful
flavor it's actually really subtle in
everything we've had so far in a
pleasant way all right so i'm a big
lover of peppermint tea and this is not
dissimilar to that but it's smoother
there's something smooth about it what
is that it's kind of like almost buttery
in the texture
maybe there's some honey in there you
ever had tea with honey
yeah you want you put a bit of honey in
this yeah be lovely absolutely because
it was just tasted funny just sweet too
this is easily wow my favorite ginseng
product
wow that you've had so far if you told
me this was caramel flavored tea i'd
believe it i just believe it i would i
think it needs more sugar
so the next thing we're trying is
actually ginseng chocolate honeyed
ginseng
oh i need chin set we literally just
came up with that and someone's already
manufactured it i've never had this
so i don't really know what to
expect what on earth is going to come
out of here
it's ginseng jerky there's only one
oh oh there it is get a nice big one
guys come on get a big one let's do this
all right go
[Music]
i just went all in yeah we do it's very
chewy okay i wish there was more honey
it's very chewy
oh not enjoying it so far
okay oh that's a strong hong kong flavor
yes this is hong kong with like a little
bit of
honey on it i don't hate it you know i
think i could like
acquire a taste i think so i think so
too i think the problem is when you had
the sachet you're expecting it to be
medicine
until you're like oh for medicines yeah
i was expecting this to be honest you
want this to be like a candy i want
everything to be candy it's not candy or
candy or broccoli
it's not a candy but you are in luck
you are a market no you've got wait
because
is this what they put out at like
well-being hotels instead of chocolate
maybe
yeah they all smell sweet yeah
i'm giving the old suck this is nice
oh okay hmm
okay this is like something your
grandparents would give you on a car
journey yes
majorly tastes like a grandparent sweet
everything else but nice i think this is
the nicest thing
wow okay we've got a winner for you oh
yeah i do actually really like this this
is good i think this would be good for
like squishy on me if you're feeling a
bit sick
yeah
yeah whole the flavor really it feels
like it would calm yourself yeah easy on
your throat if i'm feeling nauseous
like on a plane or something i'll just
suck on a boil sweet yeah it does work
that's it all right well so that has
been a little adventure through uh some
of korea's most popular health
supplement i'd have it again there you
go that's been quite fun and in the
meantime
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