Yangmei

What it is

Also called Chinese bayberry, yangmei is round with a knobbly surface, usually about 1.5–2.5 cm (0.6–1 in) across. It is usually crimson but ranges from white to purple. The flesh is sweet and very tart, made of tiny separate strands around a single central stone.

Biqi, a variety grown in Zhejiang, becomes sweeter and fruitier as it reaches full ripeness. The sourness and the dry, puckering feeling in the mouth ease as it ripens.

Where it comes from

Yangmei comes from eastern Asia, including China, Japan, Korea and the Philippines. In Yuyao, in China’s Zhejiang province, people have grown it for at least 2,000 years. The local varieties include dark, red, pink and crystal-white fruit; Biqi is a favourite there.

In the US, California growers now raise yangmei around the San Francisco Bay Area. Calmei brings Chinese varieties including Biqi and the large-fruited Dongkui into these orchards.

How it's eaten where it grows

In Yuyao, fresh yangmei goes into jars in alternating layers with rock sugar, then baijiu, a Chinese spirit, is poured over it. The fruit flavours the liquor to make yangmei jiu.

For a drink without alcohol, Chinese home cooks make bingzhen yangmei tang, chilled yangmei soup. Fruit, rock sugar and water simmer together; the softened fruit is pressed to release its flesh, then the drink is cooled and refrigerated.

How it's grown

Yangmei grows on an evergreen tree, with male and female flowers on separate plants. It can grow in poor, acidic soil. To reproduce a chosen variety, California grower Yunfei Chen grafts shoots from Chinese trees onto trees grown from seed: the joined shoot becomes the fruit-bearing part.

When and where you'll find it

In Yuyao, yangmei is usually at its ripest in June, when locals celebrate the harvest with a yangmei festival. In California, the crop comes in summer, and growers sell it online. Frozen yangmei is also shipped by Chinese suppliers for drinks, desserts and preserves.