Li Hing Mui — The Flavour That Defines Hawaiʻi

Chinese-Hawaiian

Li hing mui (travelling plum) is a salted dried plum (Prunus mume) that arrived with Chinese immigrants and became the single most distinctively Hawaiian flavour. The whole fruit is sweet-sour-salty with a deep, musky, almost funky plum character. Ground into powder, it becomes the universal Hawaiian seasoning — applied to fresh fruit, shave ice, malasadas, gummy bears, popcorn, margarita rims, and anything else that can absorb its sweet-sour-salty trinity. Li hing mui powder is to Hawaiʻi what Tajin is to Mexico, what furikake is to Japan, what Old Bay is to Maryland — the regional seasoning that defines a palate. No other stop on the Pacific Migration Trail has anything comparable. Li hing mui is uniquely Hawaiian in its ubiquity, even though its origin is Cantonese.

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