Ingredients

Guanshan Sakura (with handle) 100g

Sea salt or table salt 20g

Plum vinegar (can be replaced by rice vinegar) 35ml< /p>

Table salt (for preserving cherry blossoms) 25g

How to pick salted cherry blossoms

Pick cherry blossoms that are five to seven apart. The fragrance of fully opened cherry blossoms is lighter, and Flower bones will not bloom in water. It's okay to pick the flower stems together and put two or three flowers together.

Rinse the picked cherry blossoms carefully with running water and soak them for ten minutes to wash away the dust and small insects.

Drain the cherry blossoms. Use a kitchen towel to gently press the cherry blossoms to absorb the moisture so that no moisture is visible on the surface of the flowers.

Sprinkle a thin layer of salt in the container, spread a layer of cherry blossoms and sprinkle a layer of salt, and finally lay a layer of plastic wrap to compact the cherry blossoms, and use a weight twice the weight of the cherry blossoms to press on the plastic wrap.

Put it in a cool and dark place and salt it for two days. After two days, pour out the oozing water and squeeze out a little bit of the water from the cherry blossoms.

Arrange the dehydrated cherry blossoms neatly in a concentric circle in a pickle container, and pour in plum vinegar evenly. After adding the vinegar, lay a layer of plastic wrap on it and put two to three times the weight on it.

Put it in a cool and dark place and let it soak in vinegar for three to seven days.

Drain the juice from the soaked cherry blossoms, adjust the shape a little, place them one by one on the bamboo curtain, and dry them in the shade for two days in a ventilated place. Be sure to avoid direct sunlight, as the cherry blossoms will lose their fragrance.

In about two or three days, the cherry blossoms will be dry and the petals will not feel wet to the touch. Put the cherry blossoms into a clean and dry airtight container, sprinkle with salt and shake evenly. Store in a cool, dark place for one year.