Chinese Huamei Preserved Plums 話梅

Every Chinese kid has eaten these preserved fruit treats when they're little, I think, and puckered up with glee at the deliciously sweet, salty and sour taste.  These Chinese Huamei Preserved Plums 話梅 or 酸梅, and also known as Li Hing Mui 旅行梅, are usually found in a dried state but, since we made these fruit candies at home, we have left them swimming in their delectable syrup .  Same taste, with delicious syrup to boot! 

Chinese Preserved Plum Lime Soda 話梅檸檬水

This homemade concoction has to be one of the most refreshing drinks ever!  One long slurp of this Chinese Preserved Plum Lime Soda 話梅檸檬水 and you'll be sighing out a long happy ahhhhhh...  It's sooo hot here in HK, endlessly hot, and I'll bet it's like that everywhere these days.  So try out this easy to make traditional southern Chinese summer drink and slough off some of that heat!

Chinese Preserved Plum Caramel Lollipops 話梅棒棒糖

Oooh! I'm quite pleased with these lollipops, they'll do...  What a fun and easy thing to make at home and pass out to all the crazy lollipop lovers in your path!  But wait, first I have to warn the uninitiated, the secret of these lollipops is that they have a heart of Chinese preserved dried plums which are cheek puckeringly sour and yet sweet at the same time.  

Each of these fun and lovely to look at traditional Chinese Preserved Plum Caramel Lollipops, or 話梅棒棒糖, have a licorice flavored dried plum encased lovingly in hardened caramel, sooo good to lick and suck slowly, sweet and sour coming together in your mouth to satisfy and sooth your candy soul to yummilicious perfection.