Lost and Found...My blog post on '水正果 Sujeonggwa'

My latest blog post on Korean Sujeonggwa (Cinnamon Ginger Tea with dried persimmons) was gone missing after Blogger did a scheduled maintenance last Thursday. I noticed most of the regular blogs I visit do not have the problem of missing posts. I waited patiently for Blogger to restore everything but every time I checked my blog, the post was still not restored. For the past few days, I have been searching on the internet to see whether I am able to get around the problem. I did manage to find some possible solutions but it didnt work for me...I googled for the missing post and tried going to the cache link to retrieve it, but I didn't have luck. This morning, I googled again, and was happy to find another alternative solution. I managed to find the full post from 'Goolge Reader Feed'!

For those of you who have got missing posts, this was what I did: I was logged on to Blogger (which means I am signed in to my Google account), then I opened another new tab on my web browser. I searched using Google with key words "Goolge Reader Feed". I clicked on the first search result with the link: www.google.com/reader, and there right in front of me was all my recent blog posts. When I clicked on the link of my missing post, the entire blog post appeared, and I could copy and paste the text into a new post.

I am re-posting the blog post here as I treasure every blog post I wrote :)

当了两个星期的陪读妈妈，今天终于可以解脱了！

每当考试季节的来临也是意味着我恶梦的开始。万事起头难，通常我都得经过一番拉锯战，加上‘威逼’之下（我不用’利诱‘， 我是不吃这一套的），我家那两个少爷才会乖乖就范，专心备考。还好，值得欣慰的是，一旦定下心，不论大小都会全神惯注，专心温习那一大堆的课本和作业！他们的毅力有时真的令我很惊讶！在这么酷热的天气下他们还能精神奕奕，而我这个名副其实的陪读妈妈却半躺在一旁对着不停向我招手的周公直点头。

今年老大升上中一，我老早就和他讲明，他得自己保重，自己安排时间温习，不能再依靠老妈的督促。不过有时他还是把我当成他的活动字典和不用插电的’专用‘网络维基！外表愚钝（就是blur blur 那种lor），不善言辞的他，成绩不算优秀。去年经过那一轮艰辛的小六会考的历练，他总算领悟到一些读书心得，加上他还蛮勤奋，勤能补础，希望他中学的成绩不要太惨不忍睹。

把老大丢一旁，我的火力全集中在小宝贝的身上。吸收力蛮强的老二，能举一反三，陪他备考比较轻松。不过和哥哥相比，却显得粗心，毛躁，不够稳重淡定。我非常质疑他上课时到底有没有专心听讲？可是他又能把老师所教的都倒背如流，也能一一举出重点，有时还能做出结论或提出他的看法和见解。考试前夕，我在一边看着他那专注的神情，不禁对他有一丝的刮目相看，小不点好像长大了！看他那副充满自信的样子，我之前的焦虑也跟着一扫而空。

这几天，为了解热，我不是煮薏米水就是菊花茶。好想来一杯自制冰凉的韩国茶－－水正果! 可是市面上已经找不到韩式柿饼（柿饼就是晒干的柿子，韩式柿饼是半干的），我又不想用 made in China 的。。。所以现在只能望梅止渴lor。。。

水正果是一种韩国传统甜点饮料。它是用生姜、桂皮和水一起滚煮然后加糖调味，放凉后，加入柿饼泡上几小时冷冻后饮用。饮用前把柿饼切块再撒几颗松子仁在饮料上。比较讲究的吃法还会把核桃包入柿饼切块后配饮料一起享用。生姜、桂皮、柿饼和松子仁都有个自独特的功效，把这些凑在一起作成的水正果据说具有预防感冒的疗效呢！

水正果有点微辣又有甜味，非常生津止渴。尤其喉咙干痒时喝下一杯，感觉真的很爽。为了不要口感太辣，桂皮我没煮太久，而且我用冰糖（多数食谱都用红糖）所以我的水正果茶颜色比较淡没那么深褐色。想学如何煮一锅水正果茶可以查看这个 video clip (从03:20分开始) 或这个和这个食谱。希望你会和我一样喜欢这个饮品。


Thanks to VB, my cyberfriend, I was introduced to Sujeonggwa, a type of Korean cinnamon ginger tea with dried persimmons. It is a delicious beverage and very refreshing especially when served chilled. This tea is made by simmering cinnamon and ginger with sugar added to sweeten it. Upon cooling, dried persimmons are then added and left to soak for a couple of hours. The drink is usually served with the persimmons and some pine nuts as garnish. Hop over to this video clip(starting from 03:20min) or this video by Maangchi if you are interested to learn how to prepare this drink.



Su jeong gwa

Ingredients:

50g ginger, peeled and sliced thinly
2 litres (8 cups) of water
30g cinnamon sticks (about 5 to 6 sticks)
some rock sugar, adjust to taste (original recipe calls for 175g brown sugar)
3 dried persimmons
some pine nuts




Method:

• Place ginger and water in a pot or a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Turn to low heat and let it simmer for 20-30mins.
• Rinse cinnamon sticks and add to the mixture. Return the mixture to a boil and remove from heat. (Note: I let it simmer for about 5mins.)
• Strain the mixture through a fine sieve. Discard ginger and cinnamon sticks. Return the mixture back to the pot, add the sugar and bring it to the boil. When sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and leave to cool.
• Wash the dried persimmons, remove the calyx and add to the cooled mixture. Leave to chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
• Remove persimmons from the mixture and cut into bite size. Serve the drink with the persimmons and some pine nuts as garnish.

Recipe source: adapted from Step by Step Cooking Korean: Delightful Ideas for Everyday Meals by Lee Min Jung