Basic Introduction to Yongtai Preserved Plum
Yongtai Furong preserved plum, a specialty of Yongtai and one of the famous products of Fujian Province, is made from mature Furong plums. It goes through meticulous processes such as fruit selection, shaking, spreading out for sun-drying, pickling, and baking. The processed Yongtai preserved plums have a lustrous appearance, with a rich brown or dark brown color, tender flesh, and full-bodied texture. They are sweet and fresh in taste, with a perfect balance of sweetness and sourness, no gritty sensation, and retain the original flavor of the fruit. They have the effects of stimulating saliva production, improving appetite, refreshing the mind, and quenching thirst, making them a popular snack.
The Yongtai preserved plums are made from eight-ripe “Yongtai Furong” plums using traditional techniques. Yongtai Furong plums, also known as Lady plums, Pu plums, or Yongtai plums, are a renowned agricultural product in Fujian Province. Fu'an City in Fujian is known as the hometown of Furong plums, with the largest area planted and the highest yield of Furong plums in the country. The cultivation of these plums has a history of over a thousand years. Furong plums are one type of plum, alongside others like the Rouge plums and Nai plums. The processing and sales of preserved plums and candied fruits have become the “top priority” in Yongtai's agricultural industrialization. Yongtai produces over 20,000 tons of plums annually, with every town having its own plum orchards. Products like “Yellow Plum,” “Juice Jia Yingzi,” and “Nucleus-Dissolving Jia Yingzi,” all made from plums, are well-known and sold in more than 20 countries and regions in Southeast Asia.
Nutritional Value
Yongtai preserved plums are rich in fructose, fruit acids, proteins, carotene, vitamins B and C, which are easily absorbed by the human body. They have the effects of stimulating saliva production, improving appetite, refreshing the mind, and quenching thirst.
Product Characteristics
(1) Color: Rich brown or dark brown with a glossy appearance.
(2) Texture: Tender and full-bodied.
(3) Structure: Whole fruits with intact granules, finely wrinkled, evenly distributed, and dry surface.
(4) Taste: Perfectly balanced sweetness and sourness, no gritty sensation, retaining the original fruit flavor, and no off-taste.
(5) Impurities: No visible foreign impurities.
Historical and Folk Customs
The cultivation of plum trees and processing of plums in Yongtai County have a long history. According to historical records, the planting of plums became popular over 400 years ago.
According to the “Yongtai County Annals,” in the 37th year of the Ming Dynasty's Jiajing period (1558), there were plum trees growing peaches, and it recorded varieties like Goose Yellow Plums, Rouge Plums, and Wheat Plums, with Lady Plums (Furong Plums) being the best. Historically, “Yongtai Furong Plums” were mainly cultivated in towns such as Yongtai city center, Wutong, Songkou, and Chixi.
During the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, there are records of the processing of “black preserved plums” in Yongtai County. Farmers in Pucheng Village, Wutong Town, Yongtai County, made preserved plums from local Furong plums, creating a unique flavor that was both sour and sweet, and was loved by the public, who called it “Pucheng Salted Plum.”
In the 1940s, around 6,000 to 10,000 baskets of Yongtai preserved plums were sold in Hong Kong, Macao, and Southeast Asia each year.
After the founding of New China, the production of Yongtai Furong plums and Yongtai preserved plums experienced ups and downs. After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the cultivation of Yongtai Furong plums expanded on a large scale, and the industry of preserved plum processing flourished.
Methods for Making Yongtai Preserved Plums
1. Fruit Selection: In addition to requiring an intact appearance, the degree of ripeness should not be too high; plums that have just turned from yellowish-wax color to pink, about seven to eight ripe, are preferred (as seen in the first image). The diameter should be between 4 and 5 centimeters. Overripe, undersized, or insect-infested fruits should not be selected.
2. Shaking: Also known as shaking plums or rubbing the skin, this process can be done manually or mechanically. First, add water or spray water to make the fruit surface moist, then add wood ash (one liang per hundred jin of fruit), and shake until the fruit turns brown. This step removes the wax and powder from the fruit skin, breaks the skin, facilitates the evaporation of water, promotes drying, creates a wrinkled pattern on the surface of the preserved plum, and helps salt penetrate the flesh.
3. Washing: Wash the shaken plums in a wooden tub filled with water or in a stream to remove bitter juice and wood ash.
4. Spreading Out for Sun-Drying: Lay out the washed plums evenly on river pebbles, sandy beaches, stone slabs, or bamboo trays, and use sunlight and hot air to dry the fruit. After about 2-3 days of exposure, the free water and most of the gel-bound water in the fruit evaporate, reducing the weight and size of the fruit and turning its color red-black. At this point, the fruit can be collected for salting.
5. Pickling: Typically, 1-2.5 kilograms of salt are added per 100 kilograms of fresh fruit, divided into two stages. The entire processing usually takes 5-6 days.
The first pickling stage involves adding 1.2-5 kilograms of crushed salt (per 100 kilograms of fresh fruit), kneading it so that the salt is evenly distributed on the plums. After pickling overnight, the plums shrink to about one-third their original volume and weigh about half of the original. The next day, they are laid out on bamboo trays for further sun-drying. That night, they undergo a second round of pickling.
For the second pickling, 0.8-1 kilogram of crushed salt (about 2/5 of the total amount of salt used) is added per 100 kilograms of fresh fruit. The plums are kneaded again, placed in wooden barrels, and pickled overnight before being spread out for sun-drying again. They continue to be sun-dried until they reach 18-20% of the original weight or contain 28-30% moisture, at which point they can be stored.
6. Baking: Spread the pickled plums on a baking rack about 17-20 centimeters thick and bake until the skin is warm (approximately 24 hours). Then add salt as in natural drying methods. The second baking lasts about 12 hours, followed by another salting. Continue baking until the desired dryness is achieved for storage. The plums need to be stirred frequently during baking.
7. Storage: After drying, the preserved plums can be stored for a longer period. In Yongtai, after the second sun-drying reaches a certain level of dryness, the plums are stacked for 3-5 days, then sun-dried again to allow more moisture from the pit to seep into the flesh. After this second sun-drying, the moisture content inside and outside the fruit is consistent, which is beneficial for long-term storage. Well-dried plums can be packed into clean large wooden barrels and placed in a dry loft room, covered with straw and gunny sacks, ready for sale or further processing at any time.
Awards and Honors
In 1985, Yongtai preserved plums won the Quality Award from the State Foreign Trade Department.
In 2000, Yongtai preserved plums were named one of the first batch of famous products in Fujian Province.
In 2001, Yongtai preserved plums were included in the “Year