~99 cal · 0g protein · 26g carbs · 0g fat (estimated, per serving)
🍽️
Glass of dark plum drink over ice
🇨🇳 Sichuan
Suanmeitang, sour plum drink, has cooled Chinese summers for centuries, once a favorite in the imperial court. Smoked black plums are simmered with hawthorn, dried tangerine peel, and sweet osmanthus into a dark, tangy-sweet liquid, then chilled deeply — refreshing, digestive, and irresistibly moreish.
Sign in to save recipes to your book and leave reviews.
Make it yours
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
Ingredients
Serves 6 —
•
1 cup dried smoked plums (wumei)
•
1/2 cup dried hawthorn slices
•
2 pieces dried tangerine peel
•
1 tbsp osmanthus
•
3/4 cup rock sugar
•
10 cups water
Instructions
1
Rinse the smoked plums, hawthorn, and tangerine peel, then soak in the water for 30 minutes.
2
Bring to a boil, then simmer 30 minutes until the liquid is dark and richly flavored.
3
Add the rock sugar and osmanthus and simmer 5 more minutes until dissolved and fragrant.
4
Strain, cool, and serve very cold over ice.
Chinese imperial-era summer tradition.
Ratings & reviews
Sign in to rate this recipe once you’ve cooked it.
No reviews yet — be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers — know your destination
📍
Sichuan. The province of má-là — numbing pepper and glowing chili oil.
🗺️
China. Eight great culinary traditions inside one border.
🌍
Asia. From street-cart woks to slow monastery kitchens.
The story behind this dish is up top — worth a read while the pot works.
👩🍳
Richard Moore & Kelsey Tucker
Recipes cooked, tested, and researched by the creators of Spin the Globe. How we build our recipes →
More from China
Mapo Tofu
Silken tofu in a glowing, numbing-hot chili bean sauce — Chengdu’s most famous export.