LOCAL FOOD GUIDE

Shizhu Ginseng Chicken Soup 石柱参鸡汤

Shizhushen Jitang

Shizhu Ginseng Chicken Soup is featured among the local specialties of Liaoning.

AI illustration: A rustic ceramic bowl of bone-in chicken pieces in golden-brown broth with mushrooms and a few ginger slices.
AI illustration · AI 示意图（仅供参考，非实拍）AI-generated visual reference; not a restaurant photograph. AI 示意图，仅供参考，非实拍。

Shizhu Ginseng Chicken Soup (石柱参鸡汤) combines chicken with the ginseng associated with Shizhuzi Village (石柱子村), in Dandong’s Kuandian Manchu Autonomous County (丹东宽甸满族自治县). Liaoning Daily documented its preparation at Zhenjiang Resort (振江度假村), where operator Bi Jianjun (毕建军) emphasised the ingredients’ own flavours.

Ingredients

Shizhu ginseng, also shortened to zhushen (柱参), is cultivated from seeds of local wild ginseng. For the soup described in Liaoning Daily’s October 2025 article, the kitchen used a whole dressed chicken and two ten-year-old Shizhu roots.

How it is made

The ginseng was added to the chicken in an iron pot without any added oil. The cook brought the pot to a boil over high heat, then reduced it to a gentle simmer. After an hour, a little salt finished the soup.

Flavour and texture

The chicken broth’s savoury taste came first, followed by a slight ginseng bitterness. The chicken was very tender but still attached to the bones, and the soup had a mellow aroma.

AI illustration: A small chicken simmered in light broth with ginseng root.
AI illustration · AI 示意图（菜式参考，非实拍） · 人参鸡汤 — A general serving example; recipes and presentation vary.

China Revealed · Editorially updated 2026-09-27

Sources & reading

Written from the linked sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer on 2026-09-27. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.