Speaking of this plum, Chaoshan's friends, especially Chaoan's friends, will certainly not be unfamiliar, because that's where they are famous for making this snack. And speaking of the raw material of this plum, I believe many Chaoshan people are familiar with it. It has a particularly nice name in Chaoshan area, called Qingzhumei, and maybe some Chaoshan people can still see it at home now.

Green bamboo plum, a kind of green plum, also called sour plum, is a common fruit in Chaoshan area. Its skin is thin, its meat is crisp, its shape is bigger than plum but smaller than peach, its core is similar to plum, its taste is sour and sweet, but its acidity is high, so it is generally not suitable for direct eating. Bamboo plum pulp is rich in amino acids, fruit acids and vitamin C, which is a kind of fruit with high nutritional value. Chaoshan people believe that it has the functions of detoxification, antipyretic, sterilization, diarrhea-relieving, cough-relieving and pain-relieving, and can effectively relieve diseases such as colds and gastrointestinal diseases, and has a high status among Chaoshan people.

Chaoshan people have a long history of eating green bamboo plums. In the past, basically every household would pickle salted plums, and the raw material used was green bamboo plums. During the harvest season, many families will buy a certain amount of fresh fruits to go home. Because fresh fruits are easy to go bad, they must be disposed of as soon as possible. First, clean the green bamboo plums, drain the water to ensure that there is no water on the surface, then prepare an earthenware jar with a proper size (glass jar is usually used now), which is also cleaned and then dried to ensure dryness. Then, put the green bamboo plums in the jar (jar) according to the pattern of a layer of green bamboo plums and a layer of coarse salt, and finally seal it and put it in the shade. Under the action of time and crude salt, the juice of Phyllostachys pubescens slowly oozes out, and the crude salt also slowly melts due to the exudation of the juice. Because the skin of Phyllostachys pubescens is elastic, it will not crack during this period. When the crude salt is completely melted, the plum becomes wrinkled due to dehydration, and the color changes from green at the beginning to dark brown.

Salted salted plum and its juice (that is, sour plum soup) shell are used for cooking, which is a unique seasoning of Chaozhou cuisine. When steaming ribs or fish, adding a little salted plum or plum juice can not only remove fishy smell, but also add an unparalleled flavor to the dishes. Adding a proper amount of plum juice to some soups, such as carp soup, can remove fishy smell and refresh the fresh, and the effect is much better than white vinegar, which is more mellow and delicious. Plum juice is also a good partner for Chaoshan people to eat watermelon in summer. Chaoshan people like to sprinkle diluted sour plum juice when eating watermelon, which can make watermelon sweeter. Even if watermelon itself is not so sweet, sour plum juice can make it sweet and sour, which is the best partner for watermelon!

However, Chaoshan people usually eat salted plums directly by flushing them. I still remember when I was young, when I had a fever or a bad internal heat, my father would take out his altar baby salted plum, take one out of it and put it in a bowl, pour in a proper amount of brown sugar, mash the plum with a spoon, then pour in boiling water and stir it evenly, and let me drink it while it is hot when the water temperature is not hot. Strangely enough, I slept after drinking it, and I really became very comfortable the next day. Compared with taking medicine, I still liked this recipe with good taste at that time. Dad said that this preserved salted plum is a cold thing, and it is very effective for catching fire or catching a cold and fever caused by it (not if you catch a cold). They all ate it like this when they were young and caught a bad cold. This is a method passed down from their ancestors, and this preserved plum, like preserved vegetables, is preserved as long as possible. Salted plums of more than ten years were very common in the past.

Nowadays, most of the green bamboo plums are used to make snacks such as preserved plums, candied plums and so on. The famous "nine-system preserved plums" are its products, and some of them are made into green plum wine. However, the salty plums with unique Chaoshan characteristics are becoming less and less common, so it is a great pity that we can only taste them in memory in the future!