It's Li Hing Mui--a salty, dried plum. I grew up in Hawaii, where it's eaten like candy.

they look like dried salted plums. super sour snacking.

yup they are dried fruit, a kind of plum. a combination of sweet, sour, and salty...

I find that non-Chinese find the flavour perplexing. It's simultaneously sweet, sour and salty.

Those look like salted plums - you snack on them just as you would other types of dried fruit.

They're shuen mui, or dried preserved sour plums. They make a good snack if you can get past the sourness.

Do we have a flavor hint?
Looks like dried plums to me. Seems to be a wide-mouthed bottle, so I'm guessing some kind of quick snack food.
Are there seeds inside?

I LOVE salted plums, and am not Chinese...it's an acquired taste, but well worth acquiring!

Looked to me like huge umeboshi, and they are, essentially! My asian boss told me I'm the first white guy to like them, but they are like improved versions of the heavily artificial sour candy in every grocery store! I think dried salted ume and other plums are the perfect movie theater snack--salty, tart, and long lasting flavor!

Eat em!

They are "Huamei", dried preserved plum. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prunus_mume#Pickled_and_preserved_ume It's a traditional snack food for Chinese. It's also used as a remedy for morning sickness, motion sickness and nausea. It is often associated with old people. They chew on them to stimulate their appetite and alertness.

It is also eaten in southern Japan. The Japanese varieties are usually sweet and often red. In Japan, you could find seedless or shredded ones.

The good ones are soft and a bit bouncy when you press your teeth against it, the flesh would be slightly detached from the seed. You would some shine. The premium ones can cost 50 cents a plum! (I used to pass by a store that sells only preserved plums by the weight when I was in Hong Kong.)

If you want to try it, keep a giant glass of water by your side. It is the kind of food that you will learn to love if you give it a few tries!

I'm vietnamese and i love them. Grew up with them. Best thing ever when I have a sore throat.

My boyfriend hates them. He hides them in a drawer so he;ll never have to look at them.

The best ones are the ones that are still moist and wrapped in shredded ginger. Those my mom brings back from Vietnam. I've never seen them in the stores here.

They look like dragon eyes.. one of my Chinese friends gave me some.. their taste is reminiscent of maple syrup.

Ooh, they sound similar to salt prunes, which is a treat my Trinidadian roommate used to bring back from home! I hated them at first, but then I would CRAVE the salty/sweet/sourness when they weren't in the house. She sends them to me occassionally!

Great post adorita!

I was just going to say my grandmother always kept a container of these in her handbag and she used to give them to us when we felt carsick. So your bit about old people and motion sickness is spot on.

Yes, they definitely cure motion sickness and nausea for me. You can find these in your local asian grocery store or bodega in small snack packets for travelling. I prefer dried salted citrus peels myself.

Yep, those are dried plums. I'm Chinese. =)

I used to eat these all the time as a little kid. Soooo tasty. I would slice a lemon or an orange in half and shove it in the middle and just start sucking. SO good.

I don't like to eat them directly, but they are great for teochew-style steamed fish. Here's a similar recipe to what my mom always used: http://kuali.com/recipes/viewrecipe.asp?r=1282

Warning: It's only good if you can get very fresh fish! Use white, saltwater fish like sea bass, grouper, pomfret, red snapper, or cod.

p.s Yes I'm Chinese!

We call these "Chinese Plums". We used to get them as kids at Chinese food restaurants in South Texas. I live in Florida now and just realized they don't have them at the restaurants here... I wonder why...

These are known as "suan mei" (mandarin), or sour plums. Usually (very) salty and sweet. Pop one in your mouth and it'll activate the salivary glands. One way to eat them is to suck on one for as long as possible, extracting the flavor, before eating the flesh and disposing of the pit (if it is not already pitted). You can even suck on the pit, since it absorbs the flavors (traditionally anise). It's a popular snack in China and Taiwan, and is also eaten to combat nausea, menstrual cramps and motion sickness.

In Asia, you can find entire stores devoted to suan mei, the way they sell fresh, pickled products in the west, like olives and pickles -- in open air barrels. They come in different types of plums, flavorings and textures (some are crunchy, others soft). The suan mei in your picture are dried, but the fresh ones in tubs are sticky.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2007/12/grocery-ninja-sour-plums.html

I swear I haven't seen those in over 20 years! In school, we called them sour balls. For some reason, they were a fad for a few years at the elementary school I went to. I personally only remember eating them once though.

If I eat too many of them, I get canker sores. Beware!

Don't use them in cooking. :) Just enjoy them.

We eat these in Mexico too. Growing up we would rehydrate them by sticking them into the center of half an orange or lemon, and eat them as a snack.