Red Dates, Goji Berries, and Longan Jelly

5.0 from 9 reviews

Author: Anita Jacobson

Categories: Dessert Vegetarian

Cuisines: Chinese

Ingredients: Fruit

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 10 mins

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 50 gram dried red dates, soaked overnight to rehydrate and drained
• 2 pandan leaves, washed and knotted
• 50 gram dried longan, soaked overnight with 1.5 cup of cold water (*)
• 3.5 cup cold water
• 25 gram dried goji berries, soaked in cold water for 5 minutes and drained
• 10 gram agar powder (or konnyaku jelly powder)
• 70 gram (~ 1/3 cup) sugar

Instructions

1. Cut red dates into pieces and place in a sauce pot along with pandan leaves. Strain and set aside the rehydrated longan, but retain the 1.5 cup soaking water. Pour longan soaking water + 3.5 cup cold water to the pot. Bring the pot to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until the red dates are very soft and breaking apart. About 30-45 minutes.
2. Strain to get the liquid, pressing with a spoon to get as much of the red dates meat as possible. Discard the pandan leaves and red dates seeds and skin. Return the strained liquid to the sauce pot. You should get 4 cups of liquid. If you end up with less then this, top with cold water to bring it to 4 cups.
3. Add longan to the sauce pot. Boil, cover, and simmer again for 15 minutes.
4. Add goji berries and simmer for another 5 minutes.
5. Mix agar powder (or konnyaku jelly powder) and sugar together. Add this into the liquid and boil for 5 minutes, keep stirring until all the powder and sugar have completely dissolved.
6. Pour into a mold (or several molds, any kind of mold can be used). Set aside to cool, then refrigerate until firm. Serve chilled.

Notes

• (*) You can also use canned longan. You will need 100 gram of the canned longan, but none of the liquid. And you will need to add 5 cups of cold water when boiling the red dates in step 1. If you choose this option, your jelly will be less red compared to using rehydrated dried longan.