Korean medicinal herb mix
A ready-made blend of dried roots, barks and fruits from Korean herbal tradition, simmered in broths and removed before serving.
The blend comes from the Korean hanbang tradition and is used mainly for rich chicken and meat broths such as samgyetang or baeksuk. Depending on the producer it contains things like astragalus root, angelica root, ginseng, jujubes, licorice, cinnamon bark or bark from the castor aralia tree, often pre-packed in a cloth pouch. It gives the broth an earthy, slightly bitter yet sweetish note and a warming depth, but is not eaten itself, since the pieces stay woody and tough. It is sold in Korean and well-stocked Asian grocery shops, usually labelled as a packet for chicken soup, and by mail order.
Substitute:
A comparable blend is hard to replace, because the interplay of bitter and sweetish roots is what defines the flavour. As a stopgap, a handful of dried jujubes with a slice of ginseng and some astragalus root, if you can get them individually, points in the right direction; with only garlic, ginger and jujubes the broth is still good, but noticeably plainer and lacks the characteristic herbal note.