Korean Hangover Remedies: From Donguibogam Decoctions to Hyojonggaeng Delivery
Creatrip Team
18 days ago
Korea has a long history of treating hangovers beyond today’s instant drinks. Historical texts record medicinal recipes like Samdu Haejeong-tang and Galhwa Haejeong-tang in the 1613 Donguibogam, using beans, kudzu, medicinal roots and other herbs to relieve headache, vomiting and thirst after heavy drinking. Another interesting tradition is hyojonggaeng (曉鍾羹) — literally “dawn-bell stew” — described in the 1925 collection Haedongjukji as a lavish hangover soup made with napa cabbage cores, bean sprouts, mushrooms, beef ribs, sea cucumber and abalone simmered in traditional soybean paste and kept warm in wrapped jars overnight for delivery from Gwangju (now Gyeonggi Province) to officials in Seoul. While sources caution against calling it the nation’s “first delivery food,” the account vividly shows long-distance night transport of a hot hangover dish and highlights social differences in who could access such luxury cures. The article emphasizes that these records reflect historical medical and food cultures rather than modern clinical proof of efficacy, and notes that contemporary hangover practices now range from brothy soups to packaged remedies, but the desire to soothe the morning-after remains unchanged.
