Red jujube date

The red jujube, wrinkled and date-sweet, sold whole or pitted; cooks pit and tear them open so the flesh gives freely to the broth. Near-universal in Cantonese soup, it supplies honeyed sweetness and a homely red-brown warmth to the pot.

TCM properties

Nature · warming　Flavour · sweet　Meridians · spleen、stomach、heart

Traditional food therapy

In Cantonese food therapy it is the everyday sweet tonic, used to nourish qi and blood, strengthen the spleen, calm the spirit and harmonise the other ingredients in the pot.

Cautions — read first

• Not in quantity if you run dry and hot, or if you have phlegm damp with a bloated stomach
• High in sugar, so people with diabetes should take note
• Not while you have a cold or fever
• Boiling them pitted makes the pot less heating

Preparation

Wash them, pit them so the pot is less heating, and pinch them open a little.

Origin

新疆（若羌、和田）及河北、山東傳統棗區 — Australian-grown jujubes are now retailed at mainstream stores alongside Chinese imports

Availability in Australia

Common at Asian grocers · A$1.79–2.4 / 100g
Goldfish Seedless 500g $11.99; Henghui Pitted Chicken Heart Dates 150g $2.69; AU-grown jujubes also in mainstream stores

Pairs well with