The world’s strangest hangover cures
From pickled sheep eyeballs to spicy tripe soup, every ｃountry has their traditional remedy of treating a hangover. Click through as we round up some interesting — and strange — hangover cures from different cultures around the globe.
Prairie oyster cocktail
Popular amongst Americans, the prairie oyster cocktail includes Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, salt, pepper and a whole raw egg. Some even add tomato juice and vinegar to the concoction. The fiery elements in the cocktail clash with the toxins, which makes it effective.
Rollmops
To cure what Germans describe as “the wailing of the cats,” you have to partake of “katerfrühstück,” a hangover breakfast consisting of rollmops — fillets of raw, pickled herring wrapped with onion and gherkin. The saltiness in the brine makes you want to drink more water while its sugar content helps alleviate hypoglycemia.
Full English breakfast
Brits believe a full English breakfast — a plateful of bacon, sausage, fried or poached eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, baked beans, black pudding, and crisp toast — is the best hangover cure. While the meal’s wholesome protein and fat content help the liver get back into action, the amino acid and N-acetylcysteine present in the eggs flush out the toxins.
Umeboshi
For the Japanese drinkers, it’s always umeboshi (pickled ume fruit) the morning after. While its jarring saltiness might not be for the faint-hearted, soaking it in hot water, mixing it with green tea, or having them with boiled rice makes it bearable. The fruit, rich in electrolytes, helps in liver function and digestion.
Menudo
The spicy tripe soup is the most popular cure for a hangover in Mexico. The soup contains tripe, vinegar, garlic, and pepper. The protein-rich tripe and the spices work against the toxins of the alcohol. Similar spicy soups are also used in Romania, Turkey and Korea.
Kaya toast
Indonesians recover from a night of heavy drinking with kaya toast, which is made from kaya or coconut jam, milk and sugar over toast. Indonesia’s national breakfast is also preferred in the neighbouring nation of Singapore.
Tomato juice with pickled sheep eyeballs
That’s the way they do it in Mongolia. A pair of pickled eyeballs of a sheep in a glass of tomato juice is supposed to cure a hangover. The tomato juice helps the liver to flush out the toxins from the body easily.
Irn-Bru soda
The Scottish answer to a hangover is the neon-orange soda, which has iron as one of its components. The sugar and caffeine in the fizzy soda fight the morning-after effects. In fact, many Scots prefer to eat Irn-Bru sausage, which is made with the soda instead of water, before drinking to prevent a hangover.
Balut
In the Philippines, a hung-over person is traditionally fed “balut,” which is the fertilized embryo of a duck. The egg is rich in cysteine, which helps erase the effects of toxin acetaldehyde found in alcohol.
Haejangguk
Haejangguk, which literally means “hangover soup,” is the go-to remedy in South Korea. While preparations differ from region to region, the most popular recipe includes an ox-bone broth made of raw Napa cabbage, soybean paste and frozen ox blood.
Pizzles
The people of Sicily, Italy consider eating pizzles after a heavy night of drinking. Rich in proteins, vitamins, minerals and hormones, pizzles are made from the private parts of a bull. Several shots of espresso is another way of curing a hangover for most Italians.
Mince and cheese pie with chocolate milk
The Kiwis gulp down a glass of chocolate milk with a warm mince and cheese pie. Highly comforting, it is protein-rich and breaks down into amino acids, which in turn helps to boost the liver to detoxify quicky.
Congee
A popular dish in China, congee is seen as the solution for not just curing a hangover but any kind of ailment. Essentially a rice porridge, it aids in rehydrating the body.
Leche de tigre
Also believed to be an aphrodisiac, the leche de tigre (or “tiger’s milk”) is the traditional cure for hangovers in Peru. The cocktail contains lime juice, coriander, garlic, onion, chilies, salt, pepper and fish. The acidity and spiciness of the ingredients cut through the toxins and re-energizes the body.
Brandy with sparrow ｄroppings
In Hungary, people prefer to have a glass of brandy the morning-after, but with a hint of sparrow ｄropping in it. The brandy helps in postponing the alcohol withdrawal symptoms but the sparrow ｄropping might actually be harmful to the human body.
Sheep lungs and owl eggs
In ancient Greece, people treated their hangovers with a breakfast of sheep lungs and two owl eggs. Both are great sources of protein, which helped to recover fast from inebriation.
Deep-fried canary
The ancient Romans cured their hangovers by indulging in a whole deep-fried canary. The bird, rich in fats, proteins and carbohydrates, helped to increase the glucose level in the blood.
Burek
Croations indulge in bureks, made of pastry and cheese or meat, to treat their hangovers with a big serving of alcohol-absorbing carbohydrates.
Poutine
Canadians fight their hangovers with a plateful of poutine which is delicious French fries, topped with a brown sauce and cheese curds. The greasiness of the fries help to absorb the alcohol.
Buffalo milk
Namibians believe a hangover can be cured with a shot of buffalo milk. The “buffalo milk” is actually clotted cream, dark rum, spiced rum, cream liqueur, and whole cream. The booze and dairy elements mix together to alleviate the morning-after ill effects.
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VOCABULARY WORDS:
1. Remedy (n.) ~ a medicine or treatment for a disease or injury
2. Concoction (n.) ~ a mixture of various ingredients or elements
3. Clash (v.) ~ meet and come into violent conflict
4. Partake (v.) ~ eat or drink (something)
5. Alleviate (v.) ~ make (suffering, deficiency, or a problem) less severe
6. Faint-hearted (adj.) ~ lacking courage timid
7. Flush out (idiom) ~ to clean something out with a flow of liquid
8. Inebriation (n.) ~ drunkenness intoxication
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
1. Do you often experience hang-over after heavy drinking? What do you do to avoid having a hang-over?
2. Do you eat Haejangguk when you experience hangover? Is it effective for you?
3. What are the other hang over cures in your ｃountry?
4. What do you think of the hang over cures form the other ｃountries? Would you try any of them?
