Joseon Dynasty's Dawn Delivery

The nickname 'King of Delivery' would have been valid even in the Joseon Dynasty. In the late Joseon period, the delivery of 'Hyojonggaeng (曉鍾羹)', a premium hangover soup, was highly popular among the yangban (nobility) in Hanyang (present-day Seoul). Hyojonggaeng was a nutritious meal made by simmering precious ingredients like beef ribs, sea cucumber, abalone, and cabbage hearts for a long time. What's surprising is the perfect delivery system. The soup, boiled overnight near Namhansanseong Fortress in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, was put into an earthenware pot, wrapped layer by layer with cotton to maintain its warmth, and then transported to Hanyang by oxcart. By the time the dawn bell rang, the soup arrived at the homes of high-ranking officials, still warm, making it explosively popular for breakfast. This shows that insulated packaging and premium dawn delivery existed hundreds of years ago.