The red Chinese mulberry is an collective fruit and a member of the bramble berry family within the genus Rubus. There are over 150 different species of mulberries that produce red, white, pink and near black fruits. The singular distinction between mulberry plants and other berries is that mulberries grow on trees versus bush-like plants that other bramble berries grow on.

Red Chinese mulberries are made up of miniature fleshy drupes. Unlike black and white mulberries, they are more rounded with a candy apple red flesh. They are smaller, richly sweet with a melting quality, lacking the tartness of their black mulberry counterparts. Red Chinese mulberries and are best when slightly overripe.

Serving Ideas

Red Chinese mulberries can be used in any recipe that calls for bramble berries. They lend themselves to several applications: sweet, savory, cooked, raw, whole, mashed, pureed, muddled, preserved and pureed. They can be utilized in savory applications alongside fresh, creamy and aged cheeses, sausages, pork, lamb and within fresh salads. Complimentary ingredients include pistachios, pine nuts, almonds, other bramble berries, aged balsamic vinegar, citrus, salad greens such as butter lettuce and arugula, apples, stonefruit, fresh and dried figs, fennel, bacon and herbs such as basil and mint.

Ethnic/Cultural Info

In China, mulberries are considered a blood tonic and are used to treat a variety of ailments such as fatigue, anemia, and insomnia.

Geography/History

The earliest documentation of the red Chinese mulberry records them as native to many parts of eastern Asia from the Shantung and Kiangson Provinces of China to the Nepalese sub-Himalayas. It was the historic Silk Trade that brought all mulberries into global commerce. The tree was introduced into Europe circa 1872, and into North America in the early 20th century.