Sour Plum Soup (a specialty of Yanqing, Beijing)

Introduction to Sour Plum Soup

Sour Plum Soup is a traditional cooling drink in old Beijing. During the hot season, most people will buy black plums for self boiling (or use Yangmei instead of black plums), add some white sugar to remove the sourness, and drink it chilled

What is the nutritional value of sour plum soup

This soup has the functions of dispelling food and promoting digestion, dispersing qi and stasis, generating fluids and quenching thirst, converging lung qi, relieving annoyance and calming the mind. Regular consumption can indeed cure diseases, promote health and strengthen the body. It is a rare health drink in hot summer

How did the history of sour plum soup come aboutSour plum soup has always been a great summer drink. During the Qing Dynasty, the imperial dining room was improved to become a drink used by the imperial court, and the so-called "Shi Gong Mei Jian" was used. Due to its effects of removing heat and cooling, relieving pain, dispelling phlegm and cough, dispelling epidemics, generating fluids and quenching thirst, it is known as the "Qinggong Yibao Imperial Made Ume Soup". Later, it was introduced to the public and vendors selling sour plum soup can be seen everywhere. The vendor was holding a pair of small bronze bowls and occasionally tapping them with a clanging sound. Passersby have the feeling that plum blossoms have quenched their thirst and become cool upon hearing the sound. Eating one bowl will dispel all the heat. China has had sour plum soup for a long time. The "Tu Gong Mei Jian" recorded in ancient books is the oldest sour plum soup. The "braised plum water" mentioned in the "Wulin Old Stories" of the Southern Song Dynasty is also a refreshing beverage similar to sour plum soup. The sour plum soup we drank was a cooling and thirst quenching drink made by the imperial kitchen of the Qing Dynasty for the emperor, which later spread to the people. It was introduced to China 150 years earlier than the soda introduced from Western Europe