Korean Ginger Syrup Preserve (Saenggang-cheong)
Quick answer
- Total time
- At least 1 day 40 min
- Level
- Easy
- Yield
- 1 batch
- Ingredients
- 2
About this dish
Thin slices of ginger packed in an equal weight of sugar give up their juice, and that juice slowly dissolves the sugar into a thick syrup.
Read more
Whether the jar keeps comes down to moisture. Water left on the ginger or inside the boiled jar thins the syrup and lets mold start at the surface, so set aside time to dry the ginger before slicing and the jar before filling it. Slices about 2 mm thick release juice steadily; thicker pieces are slow, and grated ginger breaks up in the syrup and clouds every cup. Unlike Korean ginger tea simmered with jujubes for each pot, one jar of saenggang-cheong lets you stir two spoonfuls into hot water whenever you want a cup.
Ingredients
As an Amazon Associate, we may earn from qualifying purchases.
Instructions
- 1
Wash a 600 ml glass jar and its lid with detergent and rinse.
Lay the jar in a pot, cover it with cold water and bring to a boil, then boil 5 more minutes. Lift it out with tongs and stand it upside down on a clean towel until the inside is completely dry.
- 2
Soak the ginger in cold water for 10 minutes to loosen the soil, then scrape off the skin with the tip of a spoon.
Cut out dirt caught between the knobs with a knife tip and trim any reddish stem ends. Weigh 300 g of trimmed ginger.
- 3
Pat the ginger dry with paper towels, leave it spread out briefly to air-dry, then slice it across the grain into 2 mm thick coins.
- 4
Toss the ginger slices with 250 g of the sugar until every slice is coated.
Pack them firmly into the sterilized jar and cover the top completely with the remaining 50 g of sugar.
- 5
Close the lid and leave the jar in a cool spot out of direct sunlight for 1 day.
Once juice from the ginger starts to pool as syrup at the bottom, move the jar to the refrigerator.
- 6
While it is refrigerated, stir from the bottom with a clean, dry spoon whenever undissolved sugar is visible.
It is ready when no sugar crystals remain and the ginger sits under the syrup.
- 7
For a cup of tea, put 2 tablespoons of the syrup with some slices in a mug, pour in 200 ml of hot water and stir.
Lift out the slices or eat them with the tea.
References checked
These references were consulted when this page was prepared or corrected. A source check does not mean the recipe was independently kitchen-tested.
- 생강 손질법, 보관법과 생강청 만드는 방법 (농영상, 2021)
농촌진흥청 농사로 · Checked: 2026-10-02
- 유자청 (전통향토음식)
농촌진흥청 농식품올바로 · Checked: 2026-10-02
- 양파청 (이달의 식재료)
농촌진흥청 농식품올바로 · Checked: 2026-10-02