I meandered through the wet markets this morning on my way to work on a quest for fresh fruit. I saw a whole basket of these little fruits at my favorite vendor's stand (she is a tiny, hunchbacked woman with no teeth) and bought a pound on a whim. I had absolutely no idea what they were.
Do you know?
They are about the size of cherries, have a very thin skin, are incredibly crispy and have the texture of a tender, crisp McIntosh apple. There is a mid-sized pit. They are really, really sweet.
I asked a legal assistant in the office. They are dates! Specifically (and this took a little bit of google image sleuthing) they are jujubes.
But you know what absolutely blows my mind? I know these fruits. They are just the fresh version of the red date that I have eaten my entire life, and could practically identify with my eyes closed. If you had shown me this picture, I would have had no trouble telling you exactly what this was:
Do you know?
They are about the size of cherries, have a very thin skin, are incredibly crispy and have the texture of a tender, crisp McIntosh apple. There is a mid-sized pit. They are really, really sweet.
I asked a legal assistant in the office. They are dates! Specifically (and this took a little bit of google image sleuthing) they are jujubes.
But you know what absolutely blows my mind? I know these fruits. They are just the fresh version of the red date that I have eaten my entire life, and could practically identify with my eyes closed. If you had shown me this picture, I would have had no trouble telling you exactly what this was:
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| These red dates are ubiquitous in Chinese teas, soups, desserts and any traditional Chinese herbal concoction/medicine. |
Crazy right? I feel so silly because obviously the dried version must have come from somewhere fresh. But it never occurred to me and I never put two and two together!
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