''Sujeonggwa'' () is a

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

n 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 and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

. It is often served with '' gotgam'' (dried persimmon) and garnished with

pine nut Pine nuts, also called piñón (), pinoli (), or pignoli, are the edible seeds of pines (family Pinaceae, genus ''Pinus''). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, only 29 species provide edible nuts, while 20 are traded locall ...

s. 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, biscuits, b ...

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 species of 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 pl ...

brown sugar Brown sugar is a sucrose sugar product with a distinctive brown color due to the presence of molasses. It is either an unrefined or partially refined soft sugar consisting of sugar crystals with some residual molasses content or produced by t ...

. 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 cake, biscuit, ice cream, and possibly a beverage, such as dessert wine or liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly umami, ...

, 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 () is a Korean language book from the Joseon Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by ...

'' (), a book of seasonal customs written by scholar Hong Seok-mo (). The ''sujeonggwa'' recipe mentioned in the book is a dried persimmon brew with added

and pine nuts. In the book ''Haedongjukji'' () written in 1921, ''sujeonggwa'' is known to have been prepared in the

Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean state founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korea, Korean Peninsula until the establishment of Joseon in 1392. Goryeo achieved what has b ...

era by palace women on

New Year's Day In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, January 1, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the December solstice, northern winter ...

. Then they were boiling ginger and adding persimmons to the brew. Its former name was ''baekjeho'' (), 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'' (), and cinnamon was first used in ''The Recipes of Joseon'' (). Pear was used in ''The New Making of Joseon Food'' () and

liquorice Liquorice ( Commonwealth English) or licorice (American English; see spelling differences; ) is the common name of ''Glycyrrhiza glabra'', a flowering plant of the bean family Fabaceae, from the root of which a sweet, aromatic flavouring is ...

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 Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit (the peppercorn), which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diameter ...

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 often honey or sugar are added to taste. It is garnished with pine nut or '' gotgam'' (dried persimmon).

''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 Province.

References

External links

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