How to Use Dried Jujubes in Tea, Soup and Porridge

A handful of dried jujubes can change the character of a pot of soup without making it taste like dessert. Known as red dates or Hong Zao, dried jujubes bring a gentle honeyed sweetness, a mild fruitiness, and a rounder finish to broths, teas, congee, and long-simmered dishes. Learning how to use dried jujubes starts with treating them as a culinary ingredient with a specific role, rather than simply a sweet snack.

The fruit most commonly used in East Asian cooking is Ziziphus jujuba Mill. Dried jujubes are typically deep red to reddish-brown, wrinkled, and lightly chewy, with a firm central pit. Their flavor is subtler than a Medjool date: less caramel-like, less sticky, and more compatible with savory ingredients. They are especially useful when a recipe needs sweetness that supports rather than overtakes ginger, chicken, pork, grains, beans, or aromatic roots.

How to Use Dried Jujubes: Start With Proper Preparation

Before cooking, inspect the fruit and rinse it under cool running water. Dried jujubes have folds in their skin where dust or small fragments can collect during handling. A quick rinse is usually sufficient for clean, carefully processed fruit; a brief soak is helpful when the jujubes seem especially dry or when you want them to soften before slicing.

Most recipes use whole jujubes, pits included. The pit contributes little flavor, but leaving it in helps the fruit hold its shape through a long simmer. If you plan to eat the softened fruit in a porridge or dessert, you may prefer to split each jujube lengthwise and remove the pit first. This also exposes more flesh, allowing the fruit to release its sweetness more quickly.

For a lighter infusion, use three to five medium dried jujubes per quart of water. For a family-size soup or congee, six to 10 jujubes is a practical starting point. Size, dryness, and personal preference matter, so adjust after tasting rather than assuming every batch will behave identically.

Add Them to Tea for Gentle Sweetness

Jujube tea is one of the simplest ways to use the fruit. Place rinsed whole or halved jujubes in a small saucepan with water, bring it just to a boil, then simmer gently for 15 to 25 minutes. The liquid will take on a warm amber color and a mild sweetness. Pressing the softened fruit against the side of the pot near the end creates a fuller-bodied infusion.

For a more layered household tea, pair dried jujubes with fresh ginger slices. Ginger gives the infusion brightness and heat, while jujube softens its sharp edge. Dried longan can add deeper sweetness, and chrysanthemum flowers can bring a light floral note, though these ingredients should be added with restraint. A tea does not become better merely because it contains more botanicals.

Avoid aggressively boiling jujube tea for an hour unless you specifically want a reduced, cooked-fruit flavor. Gentle simmering preserves a cleaner profile. The softened jujubes are edible afterward, although the skin may remain slightly firm and the pit should be discarded.

Build Balance in Soups and Broths

In savory soup, dried jujubes work best as a balancing ingredient. They can soften the assertiveness of ginger, scallion, dried mushroom, aged citrus peel, or certain herbal roots, while adding body to a clear broth. They are familiar in Chinese-style chicken soups, pork rib soups, and slow-cooked vegetable broths.

Add whole rinsed jujubes during the final 30 to 60 minutes of a simmer. This timing gives the fruit enough opportunity to plump and infuse the broth without breaking down completely. In a pressure cooker, add them before cooking, but use a modest amount because pressure extraction can concentrate their sweetness quickly.

A useful principle is to match jujube quantity to the richness of the pot. A delicate fish soup may need only two or three fruits, while a substantial chicken and root-vegetable soup can carry more. If the broth tastes flat, a small amount of salt may be what it needs, not another jujube. Sweetness cannot replace seasoning.

Dried jujubes are also commonly used in TCM-informed food traditions alongside ingredients such as lotus seed (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn., Lian Zi), Chinese yam (Dioscorea polystachya Turcz., Shan Yao), lily bulb (Bai He), or poria (Fu Ling). These preparations are best approached as traditional culinary combinations, with attention to ingredient identity, preparation, and proportion. They should not be presented as substitutes for individualized medical care.

Cook Dried Jujubes Into Congee and Grain Porridge

Jujubes are particularly suited to congee because long, slow cooking gives them time to soften and perfume the grain. Add rinsed, pitted, and sliced jujubes at the beginning if you want them to partially dissolve into the porridge. Add them midway through cooking if you prefer distinct, tender pieces of fruit.

Rice congee is the classic base, but millet, oats, black rice, and mixed grains also work well. For a simple breakfast porridge, cook rice with water until creamy, then stir in sliced jujubes during the last 20 minutes. A few goji berries can be added near the end, since they soften much faster than jujubes and can lose their shape with prolonged cooking.

For a savory preparation, use fewer jujubes and pair them with plain chicken, mushrooms, or a restrained amount of ginger. For a sweeter porridge, combine jujubes with longan, lotus seed, or cooked pear. Taste before adding sugar. High-quality dried jujubes often provide enough sweetness on their own.

Use Them in Desserts and Everyday Cooking

Outside soups and porridges, dried jujubes can be steamed, stuffed, baked into rice dishes, or simmered in dessert soups. Pitted jujubes make a convenient filling vessel for glutinous rice, nuts, or a small amount of sweet bean paste. Their skin becomes tender with steaming, while the fruit retains enough structure to hold a filling.

They can also be chopped and folded into oatmeal, baked goods, or homemade granola, but their texture is different from common dates. If used in baking, soak chopped jujubes in warm water for 10 minutes first, then drain well. This reduces toughness and helps distribute their flavor more evenly through a batter or dough.

When substituting dried jujubes for dates, use a lighter hand. Their sweetness is milder, their skins are firmer, and the pits require attention. They are better suited to recipes where fruit is one note among several, not the sole source of a dense, sticky sweetness.

Choose Quality With the Finished Dish in Mind

The quality of dried jujubes is visible in the pot. Fruit with a clean aroma, intact skin, and consistent color will generally yield a clearer, more dependable flavor than anonymous bulk product that has been stored poorly. Very hard, excessively dull, or stale-smelling jujubes may still be usable in a long broth, but they are less appealing for tea, porridge, or eating after cooking.

Origin, agricultural practices, and handling standards matter, particularly for an ingredient used in infusions and slow-simmered preparations. Look for clear botanical identification, traceable sourcing, and a defined quality designation. Certified organic status can be meaningful for shoppers prioritizing documented growing practices, while lot testing and transparent specifications offer added assurance around purity and consistency.

Store dried jujubes in an airtight container away from heat, light, and humidity. In a cool pantry, they keep well for regular use; refrigeration is sensible in warm or humid kitchens or when buying a larger quantity. If the fruit develops an off odor, visible mold, or unusual moisture, discard it.

Keep a small jar of dried jujubes near your rice, tea ingredients, or soup staples. Their value is not in making every dish sweet. It is in giving a simple pot of food a little more depth, warmth, and intention.