If you’ve attended any recent TCM conferences such as the ARRC symposium, the BAcC conference in Reading or the RCHM conference in London, you might have enjoyed these scrumptious Hong Zao (jujube dates) at our stand.
We initially imported a small supply to give to our friends, family and business partners as gifts at Chinese New Year and Christmas. However after delegates at conferences had tried them in between seminars as snacks, everybody wanted to buy some!
Hong Zao’s are red in colour and have a crisp skin with soft, juicy flesh that is delightfully sweet.
This large variety of Hong Zao (jujube date) is from Xinjiang Province in China, right next to Mongolia and Kazakhstan so you can imagine how hot and dry the climate is! Hong Zao thrives in dry climates with very little rainfall and prefers being in the sun.
Hong Zao is widely used in Chinese cooking and in Chinese herbal formulas. They are a warming fruit and good for tonifying the blood and qi (energy), and also treating the spleen and stomach. They are also high in antioxidants and an excellent source of vitamin C, calcium, iron and B vitamins.
Although jujube dates have many health benefits, they are also high in fructose so consumption should be limited.
Each fruit is about 4 times larger than the usual Hong Zao that we’re used to (those are about 1 inch in length), and can be larger than a chicken egg! Much to our enjoyment, these Hong Zao are also very fleshy and have just the right amount of sweetness – making them a very delicious treat.
As these were so popular, we’ve decided to make them available for sale in our online shop! We only have a limited supply so get them whilst you can.
Like the rest of our herbal products, they’re grown without pesticides and with the DaoDi concept, cultivated in the right place and harvested at the right time. We take a natural and traditional approach to growing herbs as we believe that this is the only way to product herbs of the correct species with the appropriate nutritional and medicinal qualities.
Gift idea for patients
As these Hong Zao are so special and unique, why not turn these into little gestures for your patients? They are a beautiful deep maroon colour and look great in little muslin drawstring bags. Perhaps include a note with some information about Hong Zao too to inspire your patients about TCM!
What do you think?