Jujube substitutes

Plain dried apple, with no added sugar or sulphur flavour, is the nearest match in both texture and sweetness level. Drop the rings whole into a simmering soup or congee just as you would the jujubes.

Best for

Chinese herbal soups, congee, samgyetang, braises, rice cooked with fruit

The best-value answer. Both are dry, spongy fruits that rehydrate into something soft and chewy and release a light sweetness into the liquid without clouding it. Apple is brighter and slightly tarter, and it lacks the low, almost date-like molasses note jujube develops after long simmering, so a broth made with it tastes a touch fresher and less rounded. Buy the unsweetened kind, since sweetened rings will turn the broth syrupy.

The peeled, dried flesh of the longan fruit, sold in bags at any Chinese grocer, often alongside the jujubes. It is used in exactly the same soups, teas and sweet broths.

Best for

Chinese herbal soups, sweet dessert soups and tong sui, daechu tea, congee, chicken broths

Functionally the most authentic swap, because it plays the same role in the same recipes: a small dried fruit that perfumes a long-simmered liquid. It is sweeter and much muskier, with a smoky raisin aroma, so the finished broth tastes darker and more scented rather than clean and appley. Use slightly fewer if you are sensitive to sweetness.

The swap most people reach for because of the name Chinese date, and it works if you respect the difference in sweetness. Pit them and cut them in half so they do not dissolve into the pot.

Best for

braises and stews, rice dishes, tea and infusions, Middle Eastern dishes, porridge

The important correction: Medjool dates are two or three times sweeter than jujubes and their flesh is sticky and jammy rather than dry and spongy, so they melt into a broth and thicken it, whereas jujubes stay intact. A soup made with a full one-for-one substitution will taste cloying and look cloudy. At half quantity, cut in halves and added late, it works well. A dry Deglet Noor date is a better shape and sweetness match than a Medjool if you have the choice.

Good in savoury braises and pilafs where you want a whole piece of fruit that softens without falling apart. Choose the unsulphured brown kind if you can, since bright orange ones are sharper.

Best for

braises and tagines, pilaf and rice dishes, stuffed poultry, compotes

Holds its shape as well as jujube does, which is its main advantage, but it is distinctly tart and its flavour is unmistakably apricot, so a Chinese or Korean broth made with it tastes like a different cuisine. Reserve this for Middle Eastern and Central Asian dishes where jujube appears, and use apple or longan for East Asian soups.

A workable stand-in for a long braise or a dark stew, where a soft dried fruit is contributing body and a background sweetness rather than a distinct fruit flavour.

Best for

braised pork or beef, stews, soy-braised dishes, compotes

Much sweeter, much darker and more assertive, and it will tint a clear broth brown, so keep it out of anything you want to look pale. In a soy-braised dish it is genuinely good and adds a glossy richness. Halve the count, then taste, since prunes go from pleasant to dominating quickly.

For daechu tea or a light infusion, a few thin slices of a crisp sweet apple simmered in water with a strip of ginger gets you a comparable drink, especially with a little honey.

Best for

daechu tea, infusions and tisanes, hot fruit drinks, simmered ginger tea

Fresh fruit gives a thinner, brighter drink than dried jujube, which has a concentrated, slightly toasty sweetness that fresh apple cannot match. Simmer for at least 20 minutes and add honey to taste at the end. If you want a closer result, dry-toast the apple slices in a pan until they colour before adding water, which brings out a hint of the caramelised note dried jujube has.