As always, December comes and goes before I can catch up. In the middle of festive chaos, I just had to sit down and take a break. With a red date latte and black sesame sticks. Not a bad break.
This is another version of jujube tea (daechu cha) I posted not too long ago. With a bit more work of removing the seeds in the beginning and blending up the whole thing at the end, this recipe will help you end up with less work and waste.
Depending on the amount of water, you can get it to a paste consistency. Refrigerate to store and warm it up to drink, mixed with more water or milk. Red dates/jujube are naturally very sweet, but you can also add honey for an extra spoonful of indulgence.
Don't be mistaken that there is any coffee or caffeine in this 'latte.' I noticed that Koreans call many drinks mixed with warm milk a latte, like sweet potato latte (sweet potato paste & foamy warm milk), so I'm just being Korean here. ^^
Red Date Latte
Yields: 2 Cups (about 4 servings)
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 C Dried red dates (a.k.a., Jujube, Chinese dates, Korean dates),
rinsed in cold water
Plus 1-2 to cut thinly and use as garnish
2 C Water
1 C Milk, warm
(You can also substitute milk with unsweetened soy milk
or unsweetened almond milk)
Optional)
1 cinnamon stick
Fresh ginger, about the size of a teaspoon, peeled and thinly sliced
Sprinkle of cinnamon powder for garnish
DIRECTIONS:
1. Take out the seed in the middle of red dates. Put the seeds in a tea bag. Reserve a couple of red dates separately to use as garnish.
2. Place red dates, seeds in a tea bag and water, and if using, 1 cinnamon stick and ginger slices in a pot. Bring up to a boil then simmer until red dates are plump and soft, about 30 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it rest, covered, for 15 minutes.
3. While simmering the tea, prepare red date garnish by rolling them tightly, then cut them into thin slices.
4. Squeeze out what you can and discard the tea bag, cinnamon stick and ginger slices.
5. Blend together red dates, its liquid along with milk until smooth. This will also help getting enough foam to top the drink.
6. Serve warm. You can sprinkle cinnamon powder and float a couple of jujube slices on top for garnish.
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KOREAN WORDS
차 (cha) tea
차 (cha) car
우유 (wu yu) milk
