Chinese Date Paste 棗泥餡

Traditional Chinese sweets typically use a couple of kinds of fillings like red bean paste (see my Grandma's red bean paste recipe), lotus seed paste, egg custard (see our custard recipe inside our Snow Skin Custard Mooncake recipe post), etc.  

Another traditional Chinese dessert filling paste is this yummilicious concoction made from Chinese dates also known as jujubes 棗, a sweet pulpy fruit that is often used to sweeten Chinese desserts.  The Chinese Date Paste 棗泥餡 is pretty simple to make and the end result is a rich, fruity, sweetly smooth and thick paste that can be used for stuffing pastries like Chinese Rice Flour Cookies 紅棗泥炒米餅 or for making candy like Chinese Date Walnut Candy 棗泥核桃糕.

You will need to source Chinese dates 棗 for this paste.  Any asian grocery store, supermarket or even the wet market will have these dried dates.  They come in various colors from red to various black skinned varieties.  The different colors will affect the color of the final paste.  

Do note that you should be smarter than me and buy pre-pitted Chinese dates!  It was a tough thing to get the seeds out of my stupid not pre-pitted dates... (Photo above is me soaking the dates in hot water to soften them before pitting.  Um...not much help, still a b*tch to get them out!)

Cook your smartly purchased pre-pitted seedless dates in water until soft.

Whiz the softened fruit pulp with a hand blender.

Push the fruit pulp through a sieve to remove all the skin.

Cook the pulp with brown sugar and maltose 麥芽糖 until the sugar is melted.  Maltose is a natural Chinese sugar made from rice and malt that is used for a lot of traditional Chinese sweet treats. 

Date paste before

Date paste after cooking down

The final step is to add oil and cook until the paste is completely glossy, oil incorporated and the paste doesn't stick to your hand.  And your Chinese Date Paste is done!  Now use in whatever dessert you want or store it in the fridge or freezer for when you need it.  Yummilicious fruity deliciousness!

Chinese Date Paste Recipe
棗泥餡
(makes 2 1/2 cups)  Prep time: 5 mins Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups dried pre-pitted Chinese dates 棗, 300g
• 1 3/4 cups water, 400g
• 2 1/2 cups brown sugar, 500g
• 5 tbsp maltose sugar syrup 棗泥漿, 150g
• 1/2 cup + 3 tbsp neutral taste oil, 150g

Directions:

In a thick bottom sauce pan, add in the dates and water.  Cook over low heat until the dates are soft.  

Remove the pan and use the hand blender or a regular blender to pulverize completely.  Push the resulting paste through a sieve to get rid of the skins.  

Put the paste back into the pan and add the sugar and maltose.   Cook over low heat until the sugar is completely dissolved.  Add in the oil and keep cooking, stirring, until all the oil is incorporated and the paste thickens and does not stick to your finger.  (Be careful the paste will be hot!)  

Note that the paste will stiffen as it cools.  Let cool completely and use as desired.  Or put cooled paste into air tight container and store in fridge for a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Tip: If you find that by the time you want to use the paste that it is a bit hardened, just heat up paste with a bit of water and stir until soft and creamy.

Pastry Fillings at The Hong Kong Cookery:

Homemade Lotus Seed Paste 白蓮蓉

Sweet Potato Paste 紫蕃薯餡

Green Mung Bean Paste 綠豆沙餡

Homemade White Bean Paste 白豆沙餡

Chestnut Purée 栗子泥

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