Taiwanese Pickled Tomatoes

Last week I went to a wedding banquet at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Taipei and they served this simply lovely cold tomato appetizer. It was 89 degrees outside …  this was very refreshing indeed for a hot summer day!  A fellow guest gave me her recipe for it. I went home and tried it.  It was very easy and I must say pickling really improves the flavor of the tomatoes!

Dried Plums

1 cup of cherry tomatoes (washed and drained)
2/3 cup of water
2 tsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp dried plum (話梅) (about 4 whole dried plums)
1 cup of rice vinegar
3 small and fresh mint leaves (optional)

1. Using a sharp knife, make a plus (+) score on the side of each tomato.
2. Fill a pot half way with water and 1/3 cup of vinegar and bring to a boil.
3. Put the tomatoes into the pot of hot water and let them sit for 5 seconds.
4. Drain the water, remove the skins of the tomatoes and leave them in the refrigerator to chill.
5. In a separate pot, heat up 1/3 cup of water, rice vinegar, brown sugar and dried plums and simmer for 5 minutes.
6. Allow the liquid to chill, then place the tomatoes in the liquid, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least half a day.

Note:  I wanted to keep the tomato skins on, so I skipped steps 2,3 and 4