Sour plum recipe: Vegan Chinese plum jelly (suanmei)
User Reviews
5
Sour plum recipe: Vegan Chinese plum jelly (suanmei)
Description
The Sour plum recipe: Vegan Chinese plum jelly (suanmei) combines black preserved plums, dried hawthorn, osmanthus, and hibiscus teas with aromatics like licorice and dried tangerine peel to create a fragrant Asian plum tea. The infusion is simmered for an hour, then strained to extract a tart, flavorful liquid that forms the jelly base.
To set the jelly, konnyaku powder mixed with sugar is whisked into the hot plum tea, avoiding lumps, and poured into molds to chill for at least three hours. This method yields a firm jelly with a pleasantly sour and subtly sweet taste, reflecting the herbal infusion's complexity.
The cooked fruit solids from the tea can be eaten as they are or turned into jam, making use of the full ingredients. This plum jelly provides a unique vegan dessert or snack option, highlighting traditional Chinese preserved plum flavors.
Careful attention to jelly setting agents is necessary due to the liquid's acidity, and caution is advised when consuming konnyaku jelly as it can pose a choking hazard without thorough chewing.
Ingredients
To make the Asian plum tea
- 1.4 oz black Chinese preserved plum This was about 3 plums for me- there's no need to worry about cutting the plums to get the exact weight- just round up!, wumei, 40g
- 1.4 oz dried Chinese hawthorn Add more of this if you want a tarter drink, briefly rinsed, 40g
- 4 C water 1 litre
- licorice Always check with your doctor before using Traditional Chinese Medicine ingredients, if you're not sure whether you can take them or pregnant. Orange peel can make the drink bitter if not used correctly, so add towards the end of boiling, Chinese gan cao, chen pi, can substitute orange peel (no white pith
- dried tangerine peel
- hibiscus tea
- osmanthus tea
- roselle tea
To make the jelly
- konnyaku powder For the konnyaku powder, agar agar flakes and agar agar strips, check the packaging to see how much should be used for 1 litre of liquid (For agar agar powder, it would be about 11-13g as the liquid is tart- the acidity of the liquid changes the amount of agar agar required, or agar agar powder
- 1.4 oz white granulated sugar Substitute: osmanthus sugar (check the notes for a recipe) or rock sugar, add to the konnyaku or agar agar powder and mix very well, 40g
Instructions
To make the Asian plum tea
- Add the ingredients to the pot, bring to the boil then lower to simmer for 1hour.
- After 1 hour of simmering, the ingredients will be soggy but still edible. Strain them out and use them for jam or eat them as they are. Make sure to get all the juice out of them when straining!
- Weigh out the remaining liquid - it should be close to 1 litre if you've strained out most of the juice. If it's less than 1 litre, don't add more water as it'll dilute the taste! Simply adjust the amount of gelling agent accordingly.
To make the jelly with konjac powder- Use HOT plum tea
- Return the pot (with the sour plum tea) to the fire, and when almost boiling, add the konjac-sugar mixture slowly, whisking continuously as you don't want lumps to form. If they do, the jelly will still be edible but it'll be unpleasantly thick in places
- Stir till the bubbles are gone, then switch off the fire, pour the jelly into molds and allow to cool for at least 3h in the fridge.
To make the jelly with agar agar powder- Use COOLED plum tea
- Allow the liquid to fully cool before adding the agar agar powder, stirring non-stop to prevent clumping. Check your packet for the recommended quantity of powder to add but it will be about 11-13g for 1 litre as the tea is on the acidic side. (Note: if the clumps are too unsightly, you can always remelt the agar agar!)
- Allow to boil for 5 minutes, then pour into the molds and allow to cool for at least 3h in the fridge.
Storage
- Once cooled, store in air-tight containers, preferably in the fridge and finish within 5-7 days
Notes
- Adding osmanthus flower tea leaves enhances flavor balance in the jelly.
- Use only fresh plum tea for jelly as the drink spoils within 2-3 days.
- Chew konnyaku jelly carefully due to choking risk.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
You'll Also Love
