Hello, my beautiful readers! I have shared many cheong recipes in my blog post so far, but I haven’t shared the cheong recipe that is the most popular in South Korea – the maesil cheong recipe. You can make so many different kinds of cheongs with both fruits and vegetables (although mainly cheong is made out of fruits), but if there is one iconic cheong, it would be the maesil cheong. It is not so easy to find maesil, the Korean plum, and it is even trickier to make some maesil choeng than other cheongs.
Then let me tell you a little bit about this wonderful, fragrant maesil cheong!
Introduction to Maesil Cheong
My mom used to make kilos of maesil cheong and would use them throughout the year.
Maesil cheong has been a huge part of traditional Korean cuisine. It’s a raw syrup made from green unripe maesil (yet fully developed in size, just before they ripen). Mixing the maesil with sugar causes osmotic pressure action, meaning it is taking liquid out of the fruit. For that reason, maesil cheong is also called “maesil extract” in Korea. What is more special about this maesil cheong is that it naturally ferments, developing its flavors even further as time passes by.
Maesil cheong is often used to make cold drinks during summer, flavoring many Korean dishes, and as a substitute for sugar or regular syrup.
Introduction to Cheong
Cheong is a Korean preservation method that mixes sugar with fresh fruits, often mashed or sliced.
How to Make Cheong Syrup | With Any Fruits and Vegetables
Learn how to make cheong syrup, a delicious, healthy, and raw Korean syrup. You can make it with any kind of fruits and vegetables with expert tips! Learn more.
Q 1. Is cheong different from jam?
Unlike jam, where you need to cook the fruits with sugar, you leave the fruits fresh and untreated with heat when you are making a cheong. That makes the fruit cheong taste fresher and stronger than regular jam. For that reason, we call cheong a “fruit extract” in Korea.
Q 2. Is cheong different from syrup?
Cheong is also different from regular syrup, as you would let the sugar and fruit mix ferment when making Cheong. Depending on the type of fruits and the recipes, the cheong might have a shorter shelf life or can last for several years.
Here are some of the popular cheong varieties in Korea.
Varieties of Cheong
[ Berry Cheong ]
[ Citrus Cheong ]
[ Other Cheong ]
I have detailed posts about the varieties of cheong below, so check it out ❤️
Cheong Uses
You can make any cheong with almost any fruit. There are also many different ways to use your choeng with! Here are the top four ways to use cheong.
1. Homemade Drinks
First and foremost, the most common way to use cheong is to make homemade soft drinks with it. It’s so simple. Take a few spoons of liquid from cheong and mix it with either cold or hot water to your liking.
It’s so nice to make cold homemade drinks in the summer and hot homemade drinks in the winter.
2. Homemade Alcohol
As I told you, as cheong is a natural way to preserve fruits, sometimes it becomes alcohol or vinegar…
However, you can decide to make homemade alcohol just as you make cheong!
While making a cheong, you can mix it with pure alcohol. Then you leave it for several months, and there you have it! You have your own homemade alcohol. This is how you make Korean plum wine.
When I move to the big house of my dreams, I want to make my own homemade alcohol using this method.
Blueberry Soju | Korean Soju Recipe with Blueberry Cheong
You can make a blueberry soju with real blueberries at home to enjoy the deep flavor and scents. Read this blog post about the blueberry soju recipe that uses the Korean cheong method.
3. Homemade Latte
There are many lattes in Korea. And one of the most popular lattes is a strawberry latte, which has strawberry cheong as the ingredient.
Strawberry cheong is the star ingredient of the strawberry latte. I shared my strawberry latte recipe inspired by the Starbucks menu, which you can make with this strawberry cheong.
You mix cheong with some plant milk. Pour it into a cup filled with ice, and there is your luxurious homemade Korean latte!
Strawberry Latte Recipe | Inspired by Starbucks Strawberry Latte
Inspired by the strawberry latté at Starbucks, this strawberry latte has a great harmony between strawberries and milk. Learn the strawberry latte recipe here.
4. A Topping for Yogurt and Ice Cream
Last but not least, you can use cheong as a topping for yogurt or ice cream!
Both the fruit pulp and the syrup can be used.
You can also mix strawberry cheong with plain yogurt or ice cream, and then you have your strawberry yogurt or strawberry ice cream!
Ninja Creami Recipe Vanilla Ice Cream | Can Be Made Vegan!
This classic vanilla ice cream made with a Ninja Creami ice cream machine is so incredibly soft, decadent, and delicious. Plus, it can be made vegan! Read more.
Unripe green maesils and ripe maesils.
Maesil Season
In Korea, June is the best season to harvest maesil. There are degrees of ripeness of maesil and the harvest time differs when to harvest the maesil. To make maesil cheong, the green unripe maesil called cheong-maesil (청매실) is used. These green maesil is unripe but fully developed. These are harvested from early June to mid June in South Korea.
When the maesil is undeveloped, it is called put-maesil (풋매실) in Korean and is not appropriate for culinary use yet. When the maesil is ripe and soft, they are called hong-maesil (홍매실). These are often used for making jam and alcohol, although sometimes these are made into maesil cheongs too.
Health Benefits of Maesil, Korean Plum
There are many health benefits of maesil, but the most well-known one is helping digestion. When you are feeling bloated, people take a spoonful of maesil cheong into a cup of water and drink it. Here are the top three health benefits of maesil and maesil cheong.
- Aiding digestion
- Increasing immunity
- Relieve fatigues
Drinking iced maesil is one of the most popular national drinks in Korea!
Maesil Cheong | Raw Korean Plum Extract & Syrup Recipe
Maesil Cheong
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- In a washing bowl, add the maesil fruits. Sprinkle the baking soda on top of the maesil fruits.
- Add cold water to the bowl until the fruits submerge. Then add vinegar. Mix.
- Lightly rub the maesil fruits in the water. Then take them out and rinse them thoroughly with running water.
- Lightly dab the maesil fruits with a dry towel. Then, remove all the stems from the maesil fruits. You can use a toothpick to do it easily. They can make the maesil cheong bitter. Let all the maesil fruits dry completely.
- In a pot, add water again. Take the glass jar you want to put your cheong in and put it upside down. Bring it to a boil.
- Do not put a glass jar straight into boiling water. It can break the glass. Put the glass in the pot first, then bring it to a boil slowly.
- Slowly bring the water to a boil. Let the glass jar be disinfected with boiling water. Once the water starts to boil, turn down the heat to medium-high. Let it boil for about 5 minutes.
- Take out the glass jar and let it completely dry.
- Add some maesil fruits to the glass jar. Sprinkle some brown sugar. Add more maesil fruits to the glass jar, and sprinkle the brown sugar in between the fruits. Repeat until the jar is full.
- Before closing the jar, make sure to sprinkle sugar on top again. Optionally, you can add more allulose syrup here on top.
- You can leave the jar in a cool, dark room. Once every week, check the jar and mix the maesil fruits and sugar well.
- You can leave the maesil cheong as it is for up to 3 months. Then, take the maesil fruits out of the maesil cheong.
- You can use the maesil syrup for drinks or to sweeten dishes. With the maesil fruits from the maesil cheong, you can add them to a jar and pour some soju to make some maesil alcohol called maesil-ju.
Key Ingredients for Cheong
To make a cheong, there are two simple ingredients you need: Quality sugar and fresh fruits.
1. Quality Organic Sugar
Using high-quality organic sugar like this will determine the final result of cheong.
Great sugar can not only preserve and ferment better but also taste better! Not only that, using organic sugar is a great way to save our planet. There are a lot of pesticides used in growing regular sugar crops…
Let’s get some great organic cane sugar for taste, preservation, and the planet.
2. Fresh Green Maesil
When making maesil cheong, the green unripe maesil is used. When maesil is ripened, it turns yellow to light orange, often soft, and loses its light tart, sour, and fresh flavor. So get some fresh green maesil!
How to Store Maesil Cheong, Korean Plum Extract
1. Store in Fridge
You can store maesil cheong somewhere dark and chill, like a cold basement. Storing maesil cheong at 10-22 °C (50-72 °F) is recommended.
This ideal temperature lets the maesil cheong ferment naturally and develop its flavors. But try not to go too hot or below the freezing temperature. You can even store it in the fridge, although it will slow down the fermentation process.
2. Cover Syrup on Top
This is one of the most important tips that apply to all kinds of cheongs. Make sure to cover the maesil cheong with brown sugar. This process ensures no bacteria in the air get into the cheong which can spoil our precious cheong!
3. Take Out Maesil After 2 Months
After 2 months of storing maesil cheong at a cool temperature (10-22 °C or 50-72 °F), you can completely remove the maesils. You can store the maesil cheong syrup in the fridge.
Summary of Maesil Cheong Recipe
I hope you liked this blog post about the maesil cheong recipe and all the tips and tricks for it. Maesil cheong has a place in my heart as my mom also made lots of it every year when I was growing up in Korea. Now that I live in Norway now, I wasn’t able to find maesil here and couldn’t make a supply at home. This recipe and all the knowledge are from my family and the information I grew up learning in Korea.
So I hope you enjoy making maesil cheong, and enjoy it in your dishes. If you liked maesil cheong, you might like the other cheong posts I wrote. Check them out below!
I’ll see you soon with a delicious post again.
More About Other Cheong
1. Blueberry Cheong
Blueberry Cheong Recipe | How to Make Korean Blueberry Syrup
Make raw Korean syrup with the superfood blueberries! Here is the blueberry cheong recipe you’ve been waiting for.
2. Strawberry Cheong
Strawberry Cheong Recipe | For Korean Desserts and Drinks
Strawberry cheong is a great way to preserve fresh strawberries. It’s a versatile dish that can be used to make lots of desserts and drinks! Read more here.
3. Citrus Cheong
Many citrus varieties are growing in South Korea.
The further south you go in South Korea, the more abundant the citrus fruits are! Jeju Island, which is the southernmost island of South Korea, is known for so many clementines and other citrus fruits like Dekopon (한라봉) and Setoka (천혜향).
As many citrus fruits are harvested during the harvest season, citrus preservatives such as marmalade and citrus cheong are naturally developed.
Marmalade is sweet, thick, and has a hint of citrus scent. In comparison, citrus cheong has a punch of sweet and sour taste from citrus flavors and scents! It truly is the citrus extract.
The most popular citrus cheongs include clementines, oranges, grapefruit, and lemon cheongs.
Lemon Cheong Recipe | How to Make Korean Raw Lemon Syrup
This zesty, citrusy, and vibrant lemon cheong recipe can be used in so many Korean cuisines! Learn how to make Korean raw lemon syrup packed with vitamin C.
Tangerine Cheong Recipe | How to Make Korean Tangerine Syrup
Try this Korean tangerine cheong recipe. You can get both the zesty, sweet tangerine syrup and the marmalade in one recipe! Learn more.
4. Raspberry Cheong
Raspberry Cheong | How to Make Korean Raw Raspberry Syrup
Raspberry cheong is a raw Korean syrup. It is packed with fresh raspberry flavors, scents, colors, and nutrients! Learn this versatile raspberry cheong recipe.
5. Cherry Cheong
Raw Black Cherry Syrup Recipe | All About Cherry Cheong
Learn how to make an easy, raw, homemade cherry syrup that is packed with flavors and nutrients! Using the Korean Cheong method, this is a healthy syrup.
6. Apple Cheong
Apple Cheong Recipe | How to Make Apple Syrup
Apple cheong is a Korean raw apple syrup that is packed with sweet and tart flavors. Make apple cheong with any kind of apple with this recipe. Learn more.
Affiliate Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I may earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you if you choose to purchase the recommended product. The support allows me to research and continue working to provide the best information for you. Please rest assured that I only give my honest opinions and recommendations.
Leave a Reply