Healthy, hearty hangover soup
The word haejang actually means to detoxify, and this healthy soup certainly gets the job done.
The revelry that helps to ring in the year’s end can also lead to all-night drinking binges.
While all of that celebrating may bring you closer to your colleagues or help you forget your sorrows for a night,
the consequences can come on the next morning in the form of a hangover, served possibly with a side of cold
regret.
On days like those, what’s important is not how much you drank, but what you can do to alleviate your pain.
Each country seems to have its own hangover remedy. Japan has ramen and Russia has cucumber juice. In
Sichuan, China, they eat carp soup, and in Guangdong Province in China, wonton mein is the ticket.
In South Korea, the answer is haejangguk, which refers to any soup eaten to relieve a hangover. There are many
different variations on the soup throughout the country, and each province has its own version. The word
haejang actually means to detoxify, and this healthy soup certainly gets the job done.
Of course, many people also have their own ideas for how best to re-energize after a long night of drinking.
For 49-year old Hanhwa Eagles baseball coach Han Dae-hwa, drinking four bottles of soju is a given. During his
early coaching years, he used to drink a lot more, but would come to practice completely sober the next day.
His secret hangover helper? Blowfish soup. “I’ve been eating it since I was in my 20s, so it’s very effective for
me,” Han said.
Gu Bon-gil, the chef and vice-dean of the hotel department at the Korea Technical College, says the best way to
banish a hangover is haejangguk made from daseulgi (black snail). The dish is made with fermented soybean
paste, black snails and chard.
“The black snails give the broth a refreshing taste that wakes you up immediately,” Gu said. “It also helps settle
an upset stomach.”
The tasty black snails are actually very nutritious and rich in amino acids, so the soup helps people recover from
hangovers and even get over colds.
“Hangovers set in after the alcohol changes into acetaldehyde,” said Lim Myeong-jin, the director of Mi-green
Oriental Medicine Clinic. “The detoxification process takes a while, so it’s actually more effective to eat
haejangguk after you wake up rather than eating it right after you drink.”
He also recommended that people avoid drinking on an empty stomach, which could do some major damage
to the stomach lining.
“It’s really important to eat something, whether it’s a snack or something high in sugar before you drink
alcohol,” Lim said. “Start with the beverages that have the lowest alcohol content and maybe one drink that’s
really strong. If you do drink excessively, it’s also important to take two to three days to rest and recover.”
Questions
1. Did you ever suffer from a hangover after too much drinking?
2. What is the your best remedy for recovering from a hangover? What about a 해장국?
3. Do you have a habit after drinking? How do you sneak out of the case that you have to drink much?
4. Do you think A drinking have a advantage for our life?