Apricot Preserved Plum

1. For material selection, mostly seven-ripe green apricots are used, requiring uniform size, thick flesh, and few fibers.

2. Pretreatment: the raw apricots are promptly pickled in 20% salt water, with one layer of apricots and one layer of salt; after the vat is full, seal the top with salt, and after 7-10 days, take them out to make the base. They may also be kept in the brine for more than one month, but they must be turned once a week.

3. Making the base: spread the pickled apricots on mats or a concrete surface to dry, without breaking the skin or exposing them to rain; artificial drying may also be used.

4. Desalting: soak the salted base in clean water for 24 hours, changing the water once every 2-3 hours, until the base has no salty taste. Soaking in running water is ideal, and desalting takes about 7-8 hours.

5. Sun-drying and sorting: promptly place the desalted apricots in direct sunlight and keep turning them until dried, then sort them by size and color.

6. Ingredients: boil 2 kg of licorice with 14-15 kg of water twice, mix the two liquids together, then add 1.5 kg of citric acid, 5 kg of white granulated sugar, and 0.3 kg of saccharin; after fully dissolving, spray onto 70 kg of desalted apricot base, with 2-3 rounds of sun-drying in between.

7. Salting: spray 1.5 kg of salt water onto the dried base (about 0.5 kg of salt is used for 70 kg of apricot base), and after sun-drying, white frost flowers appear. 8. Flavoring and packaging: spray 50-100 g of edible vanillin flavoring onto every 100 kg of apricot base, packaging into bags or boxes while spraying.