Sujeonggwa is a Korean traditional cinnamon punch. Dark reddish brown in color, it is made from mainly cinnamon, sugar, water and

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices ...

. It's often served with '' gotgam'' (dried persimmon) and garnished with pine nuts. The punch is made by brewing first the

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakfa ...

sticks and ginger at a slow boil. The solids are then removed for clarification and the remaining liquid is boiled again after adding either

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

or brown sugar. The dried persimmons are cut into portions and are added to soak and soften after the brew has completely cooled. This is usually done several hours before serving, as extensive soaking of the fruit may thicken the clear liquid to a murky appearance. Sujeonggwa is served cold and commonly as a

dessert Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as confections, and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. In some parts of the world, such as much of Greece and West Africa, and ...

, much like '' sikhye'', due to its sweet taste. It is also widely available in canned form.

History

The earliest mention of sujeonggwa dates back to 1849 in the book '' Dongguksesigi'' (동국세시기, 東國歲時記), a book of seasonal customs written by scholar Hong Seok-mo (홍석모). The sujeonggwa recipe mentioned in the book is a dried persimmon brew with added

and pine nuts. In the book ''Haedongjukji'' (해동죽지, 海東竹枝) written in 1921, sujeonggwa is known to have been prepared in the Goryeo era by palace women on

New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...

. Then they were boiling ginger and adding persimmons to the brew. Its former name was ''baekjeho'' (백제호), literally meaning "white milky beverage", and was named after the white appearance of sugar-coated persimmons. Nowadays sujeonggwa is a popular traditional beverage drank year-round. The recipe of sujeonggwa has changed over time. The recipe of sujeonggwa is first mentioned in ''Sujaguigwe'' (수작의궤,受爵儀軌). Ginger was not used in ''Gunhakoedeung'' (군학회등, 群學會騰), and cinnamon was first used in ''The Recipes of Joseon'' (조선요리법, 朝鮮料理法). Pear was used in ''The New Making of Joseon Food'' (조선무쌍신식요리제법, 朝鮮無雙新式料理製法) and

liquorice Liquorice (British English) or licorice (American English) ( ; also ) is the common name of ''Glycyrrhiza glabra'', a flowering plant of the bean family Fabaceae, from the root of which a sweet, aromatic flavouring can be extracted. The liqu ...

mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

peels, whole black pepper was also sometimes added. Honey was originally used for sweetening but it was replaced with sugar after ''The Recipes of Joseon''.

Variants

Geonsisujeonggwa (cinnamon punch with dried persimmon)

Geonsisujeonggwa is an original kind of sujeonggwa. It uses ginger and cinnamon as its main ingredients, and usually adds honey or sugar to taste sweet. Garnish with pine nut or '' gotgam'' (dried persimmon) on last.

Galyeonsujeonggwa (lotus cinnamon punch)

Galyeonsujeonggwa uses '' schisandra'' as its main ingredients, and adds honey or sugar to keep it sweet and the inside flower petal of lotus in the water. The leaves must be boiled and coated by starch powder.

Jabgwasujeonggwa (cinnamon punch with miscellaneous fruits)

Jabgwasujeonggwa adds chopped citron or pear in the sweet water. It is very similar to '' Hwachae''.

Cinnamon punch with pear

This variant uses pear instead of dried persimmon. In the past, people ate boiled pears (another name of Cinnamon Punch with Pear, in Korean, is ''Insug'') because most high quality pears are so stiff to eat. In order to make it easier to eat pears, they made them into a kind of cinnamon punch.

Cinnamon punch with pumpkin

This variant adds pumpkin to the original. It is usually enjoyed in Gangwon-do.

Recipe

Ingredients

Ginger, whole cinnamon, brown sugar, white sugar, dried persimmon ( gotgam), walnut, pine nut

Process

# Put some gingers and pour water in a big pot. Heat it up about 10 minutes on high heat. When it boils, lower to medium heat and boil for an hour. Filter the liquid with cotton cloths. # Put some whole cinnamons and pour some water in a pot. Heat it up about 10 minutes on high heat. When it boils, lower to medium heat and boil for an hour. Filter it with cotton cloths. # Pour ginger water and cinnamon water in a pot and add brown sugar and white sugar. Boil it on high heat for 11 minutes. As it boils, lower the heat level to medium and boil for 10 minutes. Cool the liquid after boiling. # Garnish with dried persimmon ssam and pine nuts before serving.

Tip

* It is recommended to boil ginger and whole cinnamon separately in order to maximize the fragrance and flavor. * Whole dried persimmon ( Gotgam) could be used instead of dried persimmon ssam.

References

External links

Sujeonggwa - Official Seoul City TourismHistory and Recipe
{{Korean cuisine Korean drinks Non-alcoholic drinks