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Thursday, February 01, 2007

Korean Ginseng

A student gave me this Renesse ginseng candy today. Ginseng is a common herb grown on the shaded mountainsides of Korea. The root: the only part of the plant used, is initially sweetish, with a bitter aftertaste.

Ginseng is a common ingredient in Korea, seen in the famous wine: Bekseju, which literally translates to 100 year old wine. The wine isn't 100 years old; the title suggests the health benefits of ginseng, and the wine's 11 other health-promoting herbs.

Ginseng is known to be a stress fighter, but has also shown great promise at fighting off colds and other viruses, reducing fatigue and increasing memory... Candy, anyone?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I had one of those a few years ago, when I visited Korea. I spent some time in Daegu, which proclaims itself 'The World Capital of Gingseng'.
There is a 'Ginseng exchange' in Daegu, where traders would come and examine thousands of bag of ginseng roots and ginseng products. The same building has a Ginseng museum, where I was offered the ginseng candy. Very interesting taste, more like medicine than candy.

Kali said...

Do you know where I can buy that candy in the United States?

Anonymous said...

It is useful to try everything in practise anyway and I like that here it's always possible to find something new. :)