Hello everyone, I am Lao Wu, a Chaoshan native who is always greedy.

Speaking of Hua Mei, friends from Chaoshan, especially Chao’an, will definitely be familiar with it, because that place is famous for making this kind of snacks. When it comes to the raw materials of Hua Mei, I I believe that most Chaoshan people are familiar with it. It has a very nice name in our Chaoshan area, called Qingzhumei. Now maybe some Chaoshan people can still see it in their homes.

Green bamboo plum, a kind of green plum, also called sour plum, is a common fruit in Chaoshan area. Its skin is very thin, the flesh is crispy, the shape is larger than plums but smaller than peaches, and the core is the same as that of plums. Similar, the taste is sour and a little sweet, but the acidity is high, so it is generally not suitable for eating directly. The pulp of green bamboo plum is rich in amino acids, fruit acids and vitamin C needed by the human body. It is a fruit with extremely high nutritional value. Chaoshan people believe that it has detoxification, antipyretic, sterilization, antidiarrheal, cough relieving, analgesic, etc. It can effectively relieve colds, gastrointestinal diseases and other diseases, and its status among Chaoshan people is relatively high.

Chaoshan people have a long history of eating green bamboo plums. In the past, almost every household would pickle salted plums, and the raw material used was green bamboo plums. During the harvest season of green bamboo plums, many families will purchase a certain amount of fresh fruits to take home. Since fresh fruits are easy to spoil, the purchased green bamboo plums must be processed as soon as possible. First wash the green bamboo plums, drain the water, and make sure there is no water on the surface. Then prepare a pottery urn of suitable size (nowadays, glass jars are generally used). Wash them and then dry them to ensure they are dry. Then put the green bamboo plums into the pot. Place them in an urn (can), layer them one layer with green bamboo plums and one layer with coarse salt, seal them and put them in a cool place. Under the action of time and coarse salt, the green bamboo plum juice slowly seeps out, and the coarse salt slowly melts due to the seepage of the juice. Since the skin of the green bamboo plum is elastic, it will not crack during this period. When completely melted, the plums become wrinkled due to dehydration, and the color changes from the original emerald green to dark brown.

The pickled salted plums and their juice (that is, sour plum soup) shells are used in cooking dishes and are unique seasonings of Chaozhou cuisine. When steaming ribs or fish, add a little salted plum or plum juice, which not only removes the fishy smell, but also adds an unparalleled flavor to the dish. Add an appropriate amount of plum juice to some soups, such as carp soup, It can remove the fishy smell and improve the freshness. The effect is much better than white vinegar, and it is more mellow and rich. Plum juice is also a good partner for Chaoshan people to eat watermelon in summer. Chaoshan people like to sprinkle diluted sour plum juice on watermelon, which can make the watermelon sweeter. Even if the watermelon itself is not very sweet, sour plum juice can make it sweeter. It’s sour and sweet, and it’s the best partner for watermelon!

Chaoshan people usually eat their home-pickled salted plums directly with water. I still remember when I was young, when I had a cold, fever or severe internal heat, my father would take out his jar of precious salted plums, take one out of it and put it in a bowl, pour in an appropriate amount of brown sugar, and then use a spoon to Crush the plums, then pour in boiling water and stir evenly. Let me drink it while it's hot when the water temperature doesn't scald my mouth. Oddly enough, after drinking it and sleeping, I felt really comfortable the next day. Compared with taking medicine, I preferred this kind of folk remedy that tasted good. Dad said that pickled salted plums are a cooling thing and are very effective in treating internal heat or colds and fevers caused by internal heat (but not colds). When they were young, they ate this when they had severe internal heat and colds. It is a method passed down from ancestors, and the salted plums are the same as preserved vegetables. The longer they are pickled, the better. Salted plums that are more than ten years old were very common in the past.

Nowadays, most of the green bamboo plums are used to make snacks such as plums, preserved plums, candied fruits, etc. The famous "Nine-made Plums" are its products, and some are made into Green plum wine, and salted plum wine with unique Chaoshan characteristics have become increasingly rare. I may only be able to taste it in memory in the future, which I have to say is a big regret!