jujubes

These are jujubes. They also come in a larger size, about twice as big as these little babies. They are very crisp, have a small pit in the middle & are quite like apples, which I'm unfortunately allergic to as I love them. I only found this out a year ago but it goes a long way to explain all those unexplained upset stomachs right from when I was a little kid. Not any more thanks to the mighty jujube.


I first came across jujubes in South Korea in their dried form which are used in the only Korean recipe I know, Young Chicken Soup. I had been happily munching away on these tiny apple like fruits for 3 years in Vietnam and had never made the connection to the wrinkly dried version as they were called something else, which I couldn't pronounce anyway. It was only in Lucky Supermarket (or Super Lucky Market as my landlord's mother calls it) in PP that I found them with "Jujubes" printed on the label. So here's me standing by the fruit chiller clutching a pack by both hands and virtually shouting, "Oh my god, they're jujubes." Yes, I must have looked like just another foreigner going nuts in Asia.


Young Chicken Soup - simple and tasty
This is traditionally eaten on one of the high protein days near the start of the hot season in Korea. There are several of these days and the idea is that you need to build yourself up with protein so your body copes better with the hot days ahead. Koreans use baby chickens for the dish, 1 per person. They are also very cheap and plentiful in Korea but elsewhere, I've had to substitute with chicken pieces. For the basic soup:


1 baby chicken 
1 potato cubed
6 cloves garlic (I usually use a whole corm)
4-5 dried jujubes (supposed to absorb any toxins in the chicken)


Put all in a pot and cook about 20 minutes. Put in a large soup bowl. Add some chopped spring onion and have some kind of chilli condiment on hand to add to individual taste. I use this as a base and make all sorts of variations; rice noodles instead of potatoes; use more potatoes, remove chicken, blend then return chicken torn into small pieces; other veges like carrots or whatever needs to be used.