Suanmeitang

A dark mahogany-coloured Chinese summer drink boiled from smoked sour plums, dried hawthorn, and rock sugar, scented with dried osmanthus blossom, strained and chilled until it is tart, smoky, and cooling over ice

Origin: China (Beijing)

From the journey of Plum.

Suanmeitang, literally sour plum soup, is one of the oldest cooling drinks of the Chinese summer, a dark and bracing infusion associated above all with old Beijing, where it was sold from porcelain jars by street vendors and is still remembered as a refreshment of the imperial capital. Its foundation is wumei, the smoked and dried fruit of the Chinese plum (Prunus mume), the same species that yields the Japanese umeboshi; cured over slow smoke until almost black, the plums carry a deep, tarry sourness quite unlike fresh fruit. To this are added dried hawthorn (Crataegus pinnatifida) for an additional fruity tartness and, in the traditional Beijing recipe, a small handful of dried osmanthus flowers (Osmanthus fragrans) whose apricot-and-honey perfume is the drink's signature top note. Rock sugar balances the acid without flattening it, and the whole is boiled, strained, and chilled. The drink belongs as much to the pharmacy as to the kitchen, for wumei and hawthorn are long-standing remedies in Chinese medicine, valued to quench thirst, settle the stomach, and counter the cloying heat of high summer; the cup is regarded as a small tonic as well as a pleasure. Today it is bottled and sold across China, yet a pot simmered at home, with its smoky depth and floral lift, remains the version against which all others are measured.

Ingredients

Plums

  • 40 g wumei (dried smoked sour plums)

Fruit and flowers

  • 30 g dried hawthorn slices (shanzha)
  • 10 g dried liquorice root, optional
  • 5 g dried osmanthus flowers (guihua)

Sweetener

  • 80 g rock sugar, or to taste

Liquid

  • 2 litres water

Method

  1. Rinse the wumei plums and dried hawthorn slices briefly under cold water to remove surface dust. Place them, with the liquorice root if using, in a large saucepan with the 2 litres of water.
  2. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a low simmer. Cover partly and cook for 45 minutes, until the liquid has darkened to a deep reddish-brown and tastes intensely sour and smoky.
  3. Add the rock sugar and stir until it has fully dissolved. Scatter in the dried osmanthus flowers, then simmer for a final 5 minutes only.
  4. Strain the drink through a fine sieve into a heatproof jug, pressing gently on the solids to extract the last of the liquid. Discard the spent fruit and flowers.
  5. Taste and adjust, adding a little more dissolved sugar if it is too sharp. Cool to room temperature, then chill thoroughly in the refrigerator.
  6. Serve cold, over ice if you like, in tall glasses. A few fresh osmanthus flowers floated on top make a fragrant finish.

Notes

Wumei, dried hawthorn, osmanthus, and rock sugar are all sold in Chinese grocers and herbalists, often bundled together as a ready-made suanmeitang mix. The proportions are forgiving and very much to taste: more hawthorn gives a brighter fruit acidity, more wumei a deeper smokiness. A small piece of liquorice root rounds the edges and adds a faint sweetness, but the drink is excellent without it. For a thicker, more syrupy result favoured by some Beijing households, reduce the strained liquid a little further before chilling.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

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