Chinatown Mystery #6

By Dyske    April 27th, 2009

what6

This could be something quite ordinary, but I cannot tell what it is. Anyone know?

8 Responses

  1. mj says:

    they are red dates

  2. Su-a says:

    Jujube, I believe. Also called red dates (Zizyphus Jujuba, Suan Zao Ren). Very yummy! ๐Ÿ™‚

  3. Dyske says:

    What do you do with them? Just eat them as they are like any dried fruit?

  4. Ariel says:

    Yep, but they have a tiny little pit in the middle, so don’t bite.
    They’re really good!

  5. Frank Luo says:

    Yes, these are red dates. But they are labeled “Xihe Red Dates”, which makes them a particular variety of red dates from the Xihe area of Hebei province — it is said that these fruits contain so much nectar, that when the dried dates are pulled open, the pieces of dried fruit will come away with honey-like strands, like sugar melted for hard candy being pulled from the melting pan. For this reason, they are also called ้‡‘ไธๅฐๆžฃ “golden strand small dates.”

    They are eaten much like other dried fruits such as prunes and figs โ€“ in addition to being eaten directly as a snack, they are also popular in deserts of all types such as red date cakes โ€“ ostensibly a favorite in the Beijing imperial court โ€“ and red date rice congee; they are also frequently added to soups and stews to add sweetness and complexity to the dish. Some people also add them to alcoholic beverages during the fermentation process or to distilled hard liquor, to contribute some of its flavor and nutritional/curative properties to the beverage.

    The one dish I remember well from personal experience is ็บขๆžฃๆžธๆž็‚–็พŠ่‚‰stewed lamb with red dates and goji berries, because the family would sometimes go out for it when someone was thought to require extra sustenance to help them to withstand some especially difficult punishment, such as recovering from serious illness, surgery, or exam season.

  6. mei you mayo le says:

    You can put them in soup, or just eat them as a snack-> they are extremely healthy, the most nutritious and sweeter ones are the black jujubies (more expensive)

  7. Marcus says:

    These are also typically used in Sam Gye Tang (a type of chicken stew) in Korean food.

  8. Roxzane says:

    ^^ As everyone else says, they are red date, and you just eat them~ Oh! And maybe you’ve done this, but you should talk about how lots of asian (that I know anyway) use like ^^ and T.T etc.