Qi Zi (Dried Goji Berries)

Qi zi are the small, dried red berries sold in the West as goji berries or wolfberries. The full Chinese name is gou qi zi, and in a Chinese kitchen they are less a health food than a quiet background ingredient: a handful dropped into a double-boiled soup, a chicken and herb broth, a pot of congee or a pot of chrysanthemum tea.

They are faintly sweet, a little tomato-like, and they soften and plump within a few minutes of hitting hot liquid, so add them near the end of cooking rather than at the start. Good ones are bright orange-red, slightly leathery and still pliable; dull, brown or rock-hard berries are old.

Ingredients

Just the dried fruit of Lycium barbarum. Some imported packets include sulphites as a preservative to keep the colour bright, so check the label if that matters to you. Kept sealed in a cool, dark cupboard they last six months to a year, and they keep longer again in the freezer.

Nutritional Facts

Per 100 grams, dried goji berries provide roughly 350 calories, 0.4 grams of fat, 77 grams of carbohydrates, 13 grams of dietary fibre and 14 grams of protein. They are notably high in vitamin A and vitamin C, and supply iron and zinc. A normal culinary serving is a tablespoon or two, so treat those figures as a per-100-gram reference rather than a portion.