In Taiwan, we went to a restaurant in Taichung well-known for their exquisite menu. One of the dishes that tickled my interest was such a simple, yet lovely appetiser – cold and lightly pickled cherry tomatoes. After tasting them, I made it my mission to figure out how to make those bad boys.
Going by taste alone, it’s obvious that they used cured/dried plums, though luckily (to justify my thought) one of the pickled tomato servings had a soaked cured plum lingering in the centre of its plate.
My dear friend, Ishay Govender-Ympa from Food and the Fabulous, invited me over to her kitchen to show her how to make these delights as her Chinese New Year contribution to my Chinese New Year post.
Ingredients:
- Water to cover
- 40 ml rice vinegar
- 350 g cherry or rosa tomatoes
- 10 ice cubes
Dressing:
- 3/4 cup of water
- 10 ml brown sugar
- 50 g of dried/cured plum
- 1 cup of rice vinegar
- 6-8 small and fresh mint leaves or fresh basil (Ishay’s suggested the mint)
Method:
- Fill a small pot half way with water and 1/3 cup of vinegar and bring to boil
- While waiting, score the small tomatoes with a sharp knife, making a plus (+) score at the side where the stem used to be
- When the water’s boiled, pop the tomatoes in for 1 minute only
- Rinse the tomatoes in cold water and ice immediately
- Drain the water out and let it chill with ice in the fridge
- In a separate pot, heat 1/3 cup of water, rice vinegar with the brown sugar and cured plums
- Simmer for 5-10 minutes, allowing the flavour of the plums to seep into the water
- Allow the liquid to chill
- Once chilled, place the tomatoes into the liquid, cover with cling wrap and place in Fridge to cool
Suggestions: Serve as cold appetiser and garnish with fresh basil or mint.
This recipe was originally posted on my blog: Butterfingers
