How to make Korean traditional drink, Sujeonggwa (Korean cinnamon punch)!
While most of you are welcoming spring arrival, I am enjoying the cooled down weather and autumn’s seasonal fruit. (It feels like I’m going against the crowd! I feel left out. Haha)
Today I’m introducing SuJeongGwa (수정과, Korean Cinnamon Punch), which I am sure you heard of before. It is a popular traditional dessert drink along with Sikhye (Sweet rice drink).
It is particularly consumed during the Korea’s festive holidays such as New Years Day and Moon Festival periods (Chuseok, also known as Korean Thanksgiving Day). It is known to help digestion and maybe that’s why it’s often served after having Korean BBQ at a restaurant.
The punch can be drunk hot or cold, but I personally think cold is the way to go! It has a dark brown colour, though, as I added raw sugar instead of brown sugar, mine doesn’t look as dark as it could.
The drink is sweet and the combined aroma from ginger and cinnamon sticks gives a warm feeling even though I am drinking it icy cold!
Why not try this recipe for your upcoming festive holidays? 🙂 Happy cooking! xo
Ingredients for Korean Cinnamon Punch (Serves 20)
(It will give about 5.25L of punch, which can be stored in a bottle in a fridge for a couple of days)
Main
- 70g/2.5 ounces cinnamon sticks, rinsed
- 100g/3.5 ounces fresh ginger, skinned and thinly sliced.
- 2 ½ cup sugar (I used raw sugar, however, brown sugar is commonly used)
- 22 cup water
Garnish
- (optional) pine nuts
- (optional) dried jujube
- (optional) dried persimmon
*1 cup = 250 ml
How to Make Korean Cinnamon Punch (SuJeongGwa)
(Numbers in the picture below don’t coincide with the written steps.)
- Put the ginger into a large saucepan. Add 11 cups of water, close the lid, then boil it on medium heat for 40 mins. At the same time, put the cinnamon sticks into a separate large saucepan. Add 11 cups of water, close the lid, then boil it on medium heat for 40 mins.
- After 40 mins, get ready another large saucepan (it should be large enough to hold the combined boiled water from step 1 and 2). Drain the boiled ginger and cinnamon sticks in turn through the sieve. (Discard the ginger and cinnamon sticks).
- Add the sugar into the saucepan (from step 2) and boil it for 10 to 20 mins further on high heat (or until the sugar dissolves completely).
- Cool down the punch for a couple of hours before you serve. (or you can express cool it in a sink by putting the plug in and filling it with cold water and lots of ice cubes and let the saucepan sit in it for a half an hour or so.)
- When you think it’s cool enough, you can serve it and enjoy! (I garnished mine with pine nuts and dried Chinese dates. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find ANY dried persimmon here. If you are able to add the dried persimmon put them into the drink at least 1 hour before you drink it, so it softens and releases the fruity flavour into the drink.)
The Best Way to Enjoy Korean Cinnamon Punch (Sujeonggwa)
Sujeonggwa tastes best when served cold and I think it tastes even better if it’s icy cold. So as you can see from the below picture, after “express” cooling down the sauce pan (from step 4), I lightly freeze some punch (about 6 cups worth) in the freezer for 4 to 5 hours. Ice should be only lightly formed. However, if it is fairly firm, you can easily crush the ice with a fork.
While it’s optional, adding the optional ingredients (pine nuts, dried chinese dates and dried persimmon) when you serve the drink will definitely enhance the flavour and scent.
SuJeongGwa (Korean Cinnamon Punch)
Ingredients
MAIN
- 70 g cinnamon sticks (2.5 ounces), rinsed
- 100 g fresh ginger (3.5 ounces), skinned and thinly sliced.
- 2 1/2 cup sugar , (I used raw sugar, however, brown sugar is commonly used)
- 22 cup water
GARNISH
- pine nuts , optional
- dried jujube , optional
- dried persimmon , optional
Instructions
- Put the ginger into a large saucepan. Add 11 cups of water, close the lid, then boil it on medium heat for 40 mins. At the same time, put the cinnamon sticks into a separate large saucepan. Add 11 cups of water, close the lid, then boil it on medium heat for 40 mins.
- After 40 mins, get ready another large saucepan (it should be large enough to hold the combined boiled water from step 1 and 2). Drain the boiled ginger and cinnamon sticks in turn through the sieve. (Discard the ginger and cinnamon sticks).
- Add the sugar into the saucepan (from step 2) and boil it for 10 to 20 mins further on high heat (or until the sugar dissolves completely).
- Cool down the punch for a couple of hours before you serve. (or you can express cool it in a sink by putting the plug in and filling it with cold water and lots of ice cubes and let the saucepan sit in it for a half an hour or so.)
- When you think it’s cool enough, you can serve it and enjoy! (I garnished mine with pine nuts and dried Chinese dates. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find ANY dried persimmon here. If you are able to add the dried persimmon put them into the drink at least 1 hour before you drink it, so it softens and releases the fruity flavour into the drink.)
Nutrition Info (per serving)
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Made it in instant pot (slow cook mode) and it turned out really yummy. I only had cinnamon powder so I used what I have and filtered out the powder. Thank you for the recipe!
That’s amazing! I’m so pleased to hear that.
I’ve never made this in an instant pot, so if you could share your tips here, you’re most welcome! 🙂
Thank you so much for the recipe. I am preparing this tea for the new Luna year day in Korean church in Abilene Texas. My name is Sunyoung Jee.
Hope your church families enjoy it. 🙂
How long does this recipe keep for? In terms of shelf-life.
After making sujeonggwa, you can refrigerate it for 3-4 days. Alternatively, divide it into smaller portion then freeze it. It should be good for at least one month. Defrost in the fridge overnight as you need it. Hope this helps!
i just made this and my kitchen smells so good, worth it just for the aroma
it tastes fantastic and as im making it for a large group of students u ommitted the nuts but i did make homemade dried persimmon to serve it with
its magical served hot on a cold day
Oh I’m so pleased to hear you enjoyed it. Sounds terrific! Thanks for your feedback. 😊
Please, please, pleaaaase make a sikhye recipe as well! I love your recipes the most, I made salmon bulgogi and bibimbap recently – everyone in my family loved it. Korean cooking is spreading in Scandinavia now! haha.
I want to try sujeonggwa but sikhye is my favourite so I will do that first I think. I’d prefer using your recipe though! 🙂
Much love and gratitude,
Sara
Hi Sara,
Thanks for your feedback. Sikhye is definitely on my list to do. Hopefully, I can share it soon. 🙂
Hi,
I recently made this punch and although i didnt follow this recipe, i used what felt like a good ratio of the ingredients. However, i dont know why i get this hard taste that makes my tongue feel rough and its a bit bitter and tart too. I used 5 sticks of cinnamon, a hand full of red dates, about 1.5 cups of ginger, 6 small dried persimmon, and about 20 cups of water. I boiled everything together for about 2 hours(my friend said her mother uses a slow cooker and keeps it there for hours). Im not sure where i went wrong. Please advise. Thank you.
Hi Lily, I wouldn’t know the reason unless I make it myself exactly as you did. I don’t know who’s recipe you followed, it’s best to ask that person. Though I want to point out a few things. Typically you don’t boil the red dates (assuming they are dried?) and dried persimmons with the water. They are added when you serve the tea. Also ginger seems rather a lot compared to the water. Also I would add some sugar with it to make it sweeter. Anyway, that’s my thought.
I made this tea a few months ago because I’d read elsewhere that it helps acid reflux. It did seem to help and now that I want to make it again I can’t find dried persimmons which it says all over the Internet that this and ginger are the ingredients that help the reflux. Can I make an effective tea with fresh persimmon?
Hi Cecelia, somebody asked me the same question on my Facebook a few days ago and this is the answer I gave her. “I’ve never seen or heard of using fresh persimmon in this drink. I don’t know why though. I’m sure the outcome might be slightly different but you can always try!” 🙂
My favourite drink my best friend’s mom made for us as kids! I think it will make my pregnancy nausea go away & I will feel better. Thank you for the recipe.
If I don’t have cinnamon sticks, can I just use cinnamon powder?
Hi Patricia, I have no idea whether you can substitute the cinnamon sticks with cinnamon powder. I’ve never heard using it or experienced using it. You can always try it but with a different expectation. 🙂
For the first time ever I had this chilled tea last night at a local korean BBQ. It was amazing! The little older man who serves it to us was so proud of his “housemade, only in MY resturant cinnamon ginger tea!” Haha, I HAD to make it myself! I’m sure he wanted to keep it a secret and wouldn’t tell me, but his tea had a perfumy flavor to it. I have no idea what it was, but I NEED to know! Thanks for helping me make it at home 🙂
I hope your cinnamon punch turns out well. 🙂 Enjoy!
Last Saturday we met in Hamburg / Germany to cook Korean. While planning the event we thought about cooking on a ship, what might be quite chilly in February. So I was looking for a hot punch and found your recipe. Althought we hat to replace dried persimmon for dried mango, it was very tasty. Thanks for inspiration! http://hamburgkocht.blogspot.de/2014/02/12-hamburg-kocht-treffen-korea-su-jeong.html
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed my recipe. I’m very curious how would dried mango taste in this tea. I would love to give it a go. 🙂
May I know why you have to boil ginger and cinnamon on separate pots? They both need 40 minutes to boil. So why not combine them?
Thank you
Yohana Wu
Hi Yohana
You can certainly boiled ginger and cinnamon combined. However, I learnt that it is best to boil them separately to extract the unique flavour and smell of each herbs. 🙂
I have been eating Korean since I was a child but just had this drink for the first time today (still in the restaurant now) and wanted to know how to make it. Thanks!
🙂 You must be very keen to make this drink. Hope you get to try my recipe!
It’s still pretty cold here, but the cold drink looks really good. I prefer sujeongga icy cold. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever had it warm or hot. Great recipe for a traditional Korean drink Sue!
Thank you Gomo! I tested the warm version of this and it wasn’t good. It tasted like sugar water. Cold drink is the way to go! 😀
What a wonderful, unusual drink! It does look perfect for cold days at first, but since you say it can be drunk cold too, I can easily imagine it even in the summer.
I love Korean cuisine for its addictive combination of sweet and hot flavours, I cook it quite often (ok, let’s say I try to cook it 😉 ), so I am delighted to discover your inspiring, beautiful blog.
I think it can be drunk all year around. (Any excuse will do. :D) Thanks for stopping by Sissi!
Oh that would hit the spot now that I am sick. Cinnamon is so good for the cough. I like the recipe and the whole presentation, Sue! Great pictures too. Have a lovely the rest of the week! 🙂
Thanks Sandra, I hope you are feeling a bit better now. (and if you decide to try this recipe for your cold, I would recommend drinking hot, not icy cold.) 😀
Oh I love the sweet rice drink! I never thought of cinnamon as Korean ingredient (just like it’s not in Japanese cuisine). How interesting and I love to taste this!
I think cinnamon is more commonly used when making medicine (aka oriental/Chinese medicine in Korea) than cooking food. Luckily this Sujeonggwa (Korean cinnamon punch) is sweet, not bitter. 😉