Jujube Dates
With many alternate names including Chinese date, Chinese jujube, or just jujube, these fruits were domesticated over 10,000 years ago and have been used in endless ways ever since.
Domestication of this fruit is thought to have began in South Asia and cultivated throughout Eurasia from the Balkans to southwestern China for thousands of years.
Jujube dates are date-sized, with a dark reddish-brown exterior skin, light green flesh, and a hard pit in the middle. The fruit can be eaten fresh, dried, candied, juiced, made into syrup and tea, preserves, marmalades, and alcohol. In Vietnam, you’ll even find smoked jujubes.
Historically, jujube dates are a staple ingredient of traditional Chinese medicine. Jujubes contain a lot of vitamin C as well as significant amounts of B vitamins, vitamin A, and many minerals — most of all potassium.
