Bokbunja-ju

Korea's dark, sweet raspberry wine: fully ripened Korean black raspberries fermented with sugar into a deep garnet fruit liquor, drunk as a restorative and a companion to grilled meat

Origin: The Korean Peninsula (Gochang, North Jeolla Province)

From the journey of Raspberry.

Bokbunja-ju is the fruit wine of the Korean black raspberry, Rubus coreanus, a species native to the hills of the Korean peninsula and quite distinct from the red and black raspberries of Europe and North America. The fruit was valued first as a medicine: dried unripe, it entered the traditional pharmacopoeia of Korea and China as a kidney tonic said to restore vigour, and its very name carries a bawdy folk etymology, the 'overturned chamber-pot berry', from the belief that a man fortified by it would pass water with force enough to tip the vessel over. Ripened fully to a deep purple-black and fermented with sugar, the berry becomes bokbunja-ju, one of the most distinctive of all Korean traditional drinks: sweet, dark, and faintly astringent, drunk chilled as a restorative and served at feasts and celebrations, and above all paired with grilled meat, whose richness its fruity sweetness cuts. The town of Gochang, in the southwest of the country, is the acknowledged heart of its cultivation and production. This is a home method for a simple sweetened ferment; commercial bokbunja-ju is produced to a wine strength, but the domestic version is a gentle, low-alcohol fruit liquor that anyone can make.

Ingredients

Ferment

  • 2 kg fully ripe black raspberries (bokbunja; red raspberries may be substituted)
  • 600 g granulated sugar, plus more to taste

Equipment

  • 1 large sterilised glass fermentation jar (5-litre), with a loose-fitting lid or airlock

Method

  1. Pick over the raspberries and discard any that are mouldy or under-ripe, but do not wash them: the wild yeasts on the fruit's surface drive the fermentation. Tip the fruit into a large sterilised bowl and crush lightly with a clean hand or a wooden spoon, just enough to break the berries.
  2. Layer the crushed fruit and the sugar in the sterilised jar, finishing with a layer of sugar on top. Cover loosely with the lid or fit an airlock, and leave in a cool, dark place at room temperature.
  3. Stir gently with a sterilised spoon once a day for the first week. Within a day or two the mixture will begin to bubble and foam as fermentation starts; let it ferment for about 3 to 4 weeks, until the bubbling has all but stopped.
  4. Strain the liquid through a muslin-lined sieve into a clean sterilised bottle or jar, pressing the fruit gently to extract the juice, then discard the spent pulp. Seal and leave to mature in a cool, dark place for at least 2 months before drinking.
  5. Serve well chilled in small glasses, as an aperitif or, in the Korean manner, alongside grilled or barbecued meat.

Notes

This home method produces a sweet, low-strength fruit liquor rather than a full-strength wine. For a stronger, more keeping drink, some households top the strained liquid with a measure of soju or neutral spirit. Sterilise every vessel and utensil scrupulously with boiling water: cleanliness is what separates a fine ferment from a spoiled one. If Korean black raspberries are unavailable, ripe red or black raspberries make an excellent, if less traditional, fruit wine by the same method.

The Gastrographer

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