Sujeonggwa (cinnamon-ginger fruit punch)

A winter punch with persimmons

Sujeonggwa is a Korean punch of cinnamon and ginger, sweetened with sugar and served cold. It is traditionally a dessert drink, and the recipe served with it is built around dried persimmons: one persimmon is placed in each bowl, and a few pine nuts are scattered on top. The punch is not fermented. Its character comes from the spices, which are boiled rather than steeped, and from the sugar, which is added after the boil.

The drink is a spiced infusion. The cinnamon and ginger are boiled in water for twenty minutes over high heat and then for a further twenty-five minutes at a lower heat, and the lid is removed if the pot boils over. The pot is then taken off the heat, the sugar is stirred in, and the liquid is left to cool before the spices are strained out.

Persimmons and the overnight chill

The strained liquid is poured into a glass jar or bowl with the dried persimmons, covered and refrigerated for at least twelve hours. The persimmons soften and take up the spiced sweetness of the liquid during the chill. The source's serving is cold, with ice, one persimmon in each bowl and a few pine nuts on top.

The punch keeps in the refrigerator for more than one week, according to the recipe. No longer period and no temperature for the chill are given, so refrigerated storage is the only control stated.

Open questions

The yield is given as four to five servings without a volume, so the batch cannot be measured against the ingredient amounts. The dossier that led to this recipe cites a cookbook for a second formula; that book was not found, so only the web recipe is recorded here. No history for sujeonggwa was read, and no dated attestation is given.