Pickled Sour Plum (腌酸梅)

Ingredients
1 large bowl fresh sour plums
pickling salt 
water as needed

 Method 

1. Wash sour plums.  Soak in salted water for a few hours. 
2. Rinse and place half of the sour plums in a sterilized bottle.
3. Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Add pickling salt and stir.  Turn off heat and let cool. 
4. Pour salted water into bottle and seal the cap. 
5. For the other half of the sour plums, blanch them in boiling water for 30 seconds. 
6. Place blanched sour plums into another sterilized bottle.
7. Add pickling salted water and seal the cap.
8. Store both bottles into the refrigerator for one year. 
9. The pickled sour plums can then be used in various dishes. 

Kitchen Test: To blanch or not to blanch? The final product will be out in a year!