Chinese Salted Plums Are My New Licorice.

I love salted plums! I tried my first one at a zen workshop I attend this past summer. A number of the Chinese members were passing around a giant bag of the plums after lunch and they piqued my curiosity. I asked if I could try one and they handed me a grey, powdery ball. Visually, they are totally unappealing. They look like something that fell behind the radiator and dried out, mummy-like.

I asked how to eat them and was told that you can do this a number of ways. Most people just suck on them until the flesh falls off and then you can either discard or save the pit. But you can also do things like create drinks flavored somewhat like original gatorade or add them to beer to kill a bitter aftertaste.

There are hundreds of varities. I like the ones that have a good balance of salt, sweet, and sour. Even though they are preserved, they can become stale. Be careful not to eat those or in my case give them out to your sister-in-law's super polite boyfriend.