Jujube Ginger Tea

Jujube Ginger Tea is made from ginger, jujubes, black sugar (or honey), and water. It serves as an energizing morning drink, an afternoon treat (especially if you feel under the weather), and a warming evening drink.

There's always a time and place to drink Jujube Ginger Tea...

Jujube Ginger Tea

Jujube Ginger Tea is a drink we make often at home. My mom and grandma made it for me growing up, and now I make it for them both ^_^ I also make it for my husband and friends, and anyone who stops by our home. We always have a big pot of this "tea" brewing on the stove. 

It's a warming drink that can be as spicy or sweet as you like (adjust the amount of ginger and black sugar till you find your desired balance). This drink was originally made to be a remedy for colds/coughs/whenever you felt slightly under the weather...but it's so delicious (and good for you!) that I just drink all year round.

Ginger is the main flavor in this drink, and it's softened by the malty-sweet notes of jujubes and black sugar.  The drink is meant to be served warm, but some people also like it chilled. 

Ginger, jujubes, and black sugar

The drink is made from four common Asian pantry ingredients (full recipe at the bottom of this post):

• Ginger
• Jujubes (Chinese red dates)
• Black sugar (or honey)
• Water 

We can take a deeper look at each ingredient below...

Make sure to strain the drink into your cup

Health Benefits of Jujube Ginger Tea

Ginger and jujubes are the two keys ingredients to making this a "health drink."

Jujubes are known for:

• having lots of vitamin C and helps to boost immunity
• working as natural sleep aid
• helping blood flow/circulation

Ginger is known for:

• improves digestion
• helping with muscle pain
• is believed to improve brain/mental function

Jujubes, split in half so that the tea soaks up more flavor

What are Jujubes?

Jujubes are Chinese red dates. Growing up, we had to visit the Chinese supermarkets to find jujubes but they are now so popular that you can even find them at Costco! (I just bought a big bag of jujubes at Costco in San Francisco). This is a good online option for jujubes.

My Jujube Pick:

Jujube (Chinese red dates)

Photo Credit: www.amazon.com

Jujubes are also called Chinese red dates. They're malty and sweet, very nutritious and often used in Chinese cooking. We used dried jujubes to make this Ginger Jujube Tea.

Get it on Amazon.com

You can sometimes find them fresh, though dried jujubes are more common for cooking. Jujubes are widely use in both sweet and savory Chinese dishes. Jujubes have this malty-sweet taste and are very snackable. They are also quite healthy. 

For this post we are brewing jujubes and ginger together, but you can also make a plain jujube tea by brewing water and jujubes together for 15 minutes. Sweeten with black sugar or honey. 

What is Black Sugar (Kokuto)?

This recipe calls for black sugar (which also goes by the Japanese name, kokuto). Black sugar can be found at Japanese supermarkets (like Nijiya and Mitsuwa) in one pound bags that cost about $4-6.

But if you don't have black sugar, no worries! You can easily substitute honey in the recipe. The purpose of the black sugar or honey is just to sweeten the drink a little bit. 

If you use black sugar, you add the sugar in with all the other ingredients and boil everything together.

If you use honey, you add the honey in at the very end. Add it directly into your drinking cup after pouring the drink into your cup.

Peeled and sliced ginger

Peeling Ginger: Tips and Tricks

Peeling ginger is a pain. I have two small solutions:

One. If you're using organic ginger, you can get away with not peeling the skin. Just make sure to scrub the ginger real good with a fruit/vegetable scrubber.

Two. Use a spoon to peel the skin! I've used to use a peeler to get off the bulk of then skin, and then use a paring knife to get off all the small bit the peeler missed. That was exhausting. Now I just use a metal spoon and it makes the process so much easier. 

Jujube Ginger Tea Recipe

These are the ingredients you'll need for the recipe

• 4-inch knob of ginger, peeled and sliced thin - 
• 8 jujubes (Chinese red dates), split in half 
• Black sugar (Kokuto) or honey, to taste
• 3 cups of water

Now it's time to cook ^_^

First, prepare all your ingredients. Peel and sliced the ginger. Split the jujubes open (or you can also cut them in half).

Put the ginger, jujubes, and black sugar in a small pot. Fill the pot with 3 cups of water. Put a cover on, and bring to a boil over high heat. 

Once it boils, turn the heat down right away to low heat. Let the brew simmer for 15-minutes. 

Remove the lid and let the brew cool for 2-3 minutes. Then strain into cups, add honey (if you didn't use the black sugar). Drink and enjoy!

Useful notes:

• I like to split the jujubes in half because it opens the skin and allows more flavor to be released into the drink. 
• No worries if you can't find black sugar. Use honey instead! Add the honey in at the end (after straining the drink into your cup), instead of boiling it together with the ginger and jujubes at the beginning.