Korean Plum Extract – 매실 엑기스(Maesil Aekgiss) or 매실청 (Maseil Chung) or Green Plum Syrup – has only appeared in Korean cooking in recent years while Korean green plums (매실 Maesil, also: Chinese plum or Japanese ume) have been around for a long time. Records of its medicinal purposes go far back as 200 AD. But If you watch any Korean cooking shows or look up recipes on the internet these days, the syrup is used just about everywhere. In fact, it’s used a little too much in my opinion but that’s just me.. 🙂
The two terms, Aekgiss (엑기스) and Cheong (청) are used interchangeably to describe green plum extract or syrup. The word “Aekiss” comes from Japanese and it was their take on the word “extract”. Don’t ask me how you get “aekiss” from “extract”.. 🙂 On a side note, it IS amazing how languages change in different cultures..I’m constantly reminded not to pronounce English words correctly in Korea because people never understand what I say. For example, if I say “Food” almost no one will understand whereas if I say “Pood”.. then everyone knows it!
The word Cheong actually means a type of syrup that’s made by either physically or chemically changing certain grains without any added sugar. For example, Brown Rice Syrup (called 조청 Cho Cheong) is made from culturing cooked rice with enzymes with no additional sugar. So if you think about it, neither of these terms are fully accurate..
While I was living in the US, I resisted using this Korean plum extract in my recipes. It’s not something I grew up eating and therefore I did not feel it was authentic. Also, the Maesil Cheong is not a very readily available ingredient for many people outside of Korea, so I hesitated using them in my Kimchimari recipes. BTW, if you can’t get any plum syrup, no worries, just use plain ol’ sugar or rice syrup instead.
Now that I’m living in Korea, I’m finding that I just can not ignore Maesil Cheong anymore. It is such an integral part of Korean cooking that both my mother and mother-in-law (who is usually very traditional) now make maesil chung every year! In addition to being a great fragrant sweetener in cooking, Maesil also has many health benefits. Probably why it’s become so popular in Korea because Koreans just LOVE anything that is known to be healthy.
This May, I found these wonderful plum trees in our farm and after having tried it for a year, I just could not pass up the chance to make the maesil cheong green plum extract syrup myself!
How to use Korean Plum Extract or Maesil Cheong
Before we talk about how to make Korean Plum extract (Maesil Cheong), I want to share how I use it in my own home.
- Make hot or cold maesil drink – from my personal experience. drinking plum syrup + water definitely helps with indigestion especially after a large meal so it’s definitely a great dessert drink. You can serve it cold or hot, both taste and feels great. One thing though, if you have an acidic stomach, you might want to be a bit careful.
- I use Maesil Cheong in addition to sugar in many dishes – because Korean green plum extract is sour and sweet, I don’t substitute sugar fully but I substitute a little sugar with maesil or just add a splash in addition. It usually enhances the flavor of any dish when you add just a splash. Here are some dishes I always add to (I just don’t usually have it listed in many of my recipes because I didn’t want to make everyone to buy it or use it).
- Bulgogi or Kalbi marinade
- Kimchi – even though I don’t say it in each recipe, I often add a splash in all my kimchi when I make it. It’s totally fine without it but it does add that little extra something when you do.
- Fish Jorims – wow somehow I don’t have a recipe up for this but if you do make any, you can add a swirl
- Salads – like Lettuce Salad or Cucumber Salad
- Chogochujang Sauce
Ingredients
** 2 lbs of plums produce about 1 quart of syrup
- 2 lbs Green Plums
- 2 lbs sugar (white or organic unbleached)~ 2.4 lbs sugar
- 1 glass jar or breathable earthen ware (항아리 Haangari) large enough to hold both sugar and plum
Directions
- Wash the plums and drain. Let the plums completely dry by leaving it for few hours in a colander or better yet, spread them out onto a baking pan or tray lined with paper towel.
Maesil or Japanese green plums washed and draining - While the plums are drying, remove any stems including the little stub near the stem. Removing the stub is not a must but if you don’t, stubs will later float around in the syrup and you will have to strain it to get rid of it. Leaving the stubs intact also increases the chance of mold developing in the syrup.
Cleaned plums maesil plums for maesil chung syrup - Discard any plums that are rotten because these can spoil the syrup.
- Sanitize the glass jar by rinsing it with boiling water or alcohol.
- Layer sugar and plums alternately in the jar. This means you need to divide the sugar and the plums equally so that you don’t run out of sugar at the end. If you layer the sugar so that it just about covers the layer of plums, it should work out OK.
Japanese green plums for maesil chung syrup 
Green apricot plums or Maesil in sugar for Maesil Chung 
Green plums or maesil with sugar in jar for maesil chung And that’s it! Cover the jar and leave it in a cool place for 90 days and the syrup should be ready.
Maesil Chung or Green Plum Syrup after Day 1
BUT WAIT!!! A bit more work is still needed..many (including me) have failed because they did not stir the syrup afterwards. See below – notice how the sugar has accumulated at the bottom of the jar. You need to stir the green plum syrup every 2 days or so (prob. for about 7-10 days) until the sugar is fully dissolved in the plum juice. You should still stir the plum syrup every now and then for the remaining 80 days. Stir if you see the top plums take on a different color or if you see white stuff appearing on top.
After 90 days, remove the plums with the seeds – which now will have no flesh left and look all shriveled up. Store in jars at room temperature and it will keep for at least a year or more.
Maesil Syrup Substitute
If you can’t find Korean plum extract maesil syrup, just mix 1 Tbsp water + 1 tsp apple cider vinegar + 1/2 tsp sugar to substitute 4 tsp Maesil Syrup!
Maesil Cheong (Green Plum Syrup)
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Green Plums
- 2 lbs sugar (white or organic unbleached)~ 2.4 lbs sugar
- 1 glass jar or breathable earthen ware (항아리 Haangari) large enough to hold both sugar and plums
Instructions
- Wash plums and drain. Let plums completely dry.
- Remove any stems including the little stub near the stem. Removing the stub is not a must but if you don’t, stubs will later float around in the syrup and you will have to strain it to get rid of it.
- Discard any plums that are rotten because these can spoil the syrup.
- Sanitize the glass jar by rinsing it with boiling water or alcohol.
- Layer sugar and plums alternately in the jar. This means you need to divide the sugar and the plums equally so that you don’t run out of sugar at the end. If you layer the sugar so that it just about covers the layer of plums, it should work out OK.
- Cover the jar and leave it in a cool place for 90 days.
- After 90 days, remove the plums with the seeds and store the syrup for use. Can be stored at room temperature for many months, even a year or more.
Tips & Notes:
- Don’t hold back on the SUGAR! The key to making good plum syrup is the ratio of plum to sugar. The basic is 1:1 but depending on how big and juicy the plums are, you may want to increase the ratio to 1:2. More sugar increases the success rate since more sugar means less chance for mold to develop or turn sour instead of sweet.
- What sugar to use? Brown vs White vs Organic? This is quite a dilemma…Using white sugar will intensify the plum fragrance in the syrup but we all know it’s not the best thing for your health. I used organic unbleached sugar here. Brown sugar contains molasses like substance in addition to sugar which can diminish the flavor and fragrance of the green plums.
- You need to stir the syrup every 2 days or so (prob. for about 7-10 days) until the sugar is fully dissolved in the plum juice. You should still stir the plum syrup every now and then for the remaining 80 days. Stir if you see the top plums take on a different color or if you see white stuff appearing on top.
In addition, consider the following:
- Don’t hold back on the SUGAR!!
- The key to making good Korean plum extract syrup is the ratio of plum to sugar. The basic is 1:1 but depending on how big and juicy the plums are, you may want to increase the ratio to 1:2. More sugar increases the success rate since more sugar means less chance for mold to develop or turn sour instead of sweet. A friend of mine used exact 1:1 ratio and failed on her first try. So I decided to increase the sugar amount to not quite 1:2 but something like 1:1.5..and SUCCESS!!
- · What sugar to use? Brown vs White vs Organic?
- This is quite a dilemma…Using white sugar will intensify the plum fragrance in the syrup but we all know it’s not the best thing for your health. I used organic unbleached sugar here. Brown sugar contains molasses like substance in addition to sugar which can diminish the flavor and fragrance of the green plums.
History of Korean plums: The oldest record of these little plums is in Chinese medicine. Chinese smoked these on top of a fire and used it to relieve pain and also take care of intestinal problems. Japanese used Ume Boshi to prevent rice from going bad in the summer.
In the last few years, studies have shown the following:
- The large amount of citric acid in the plums help the body get rid of lactic acid therefore helping the body recover faster
- The acidic plums help with secretion of saliva and digestive enzymes aiding with digestion
- The plum syrup kills off harmful bacteria to help with diarrhea and promote normal bowel function
I can’t seem to find information about whether Maesilcheong has trace alcohol in it. Do you know if it’s safe for kids?
Yes, it’s safe. It doesn’t contain alcohol. It’s just sugar and juice that’s extracted from the green plums.
Hello. Thanks for this post. I won’t be able to make because of the difficulty to buy the ingredients but may try with others? Can it be adapted with other fruits?
I so relate to the “mis pronunciation”. I also never understood the Konglish until it was written. That’s a weird trend to write with Korean characters English words because the pronunciation is totally different. I also am puzzled wothe many recipes that use sugar or syrup, which are told to be cause of obesity (mostly syrup). Can onions be a replacement for sugar in savoury recipes?
I guess you could.. I haven’t tried and not sure if it will work as the reason why we use green plums is because of their fragrance. I know Koreans do use a lot of syrup and sugars. Sure, for some recipes onions can definitely replace the sugar. You can also use sugar substitute if you’d like. Good luck!
It’s interesting that you say 매실청 has only been around for 10 years or so because I saw it a ton when I lived in 전라남도 in 2003. Was it really not around much longer than that?
Well, the date the post was originally published was around 2012 so I was saying ’10 years or so’ from that date. I recently updated the post, so the published date now shows as 2022..sorry for the confusion. I just edited the text. Thank you for pointing that out.
Very interesting that it had just started to gain traction right before I lived out there. I love 매실차 and use 매실청 all the time in cooking. I’m glad it’s a part of Korean cuisine now!
I know.. I love using 매실청 in cooking too! I just can’t put it in recipes all the time because I can’t expect everyone to have it. So happy that you are using it in your cooking.
Could I use honey instead of sugar??
Although I have not made it myself I have seen people use honey. I believe you have to add about 1:1.5 maesil:honey ratio when you use honey. Good luck! BTW, do you have Green Plum now where you live? The ume plums are usually only available around May/June time in Korea and US.. so I was just curious.
I recently bought something from AMAZON called Korean Beksul All Purpose Plum Extract Syrup 매실청 2.2lb
To use in Korean recipes. It does not appear to be fermented and is relatively inexpensive.
Yes – I’m afraid that one is not fermented. If you read the label, it says 6% is green plum extract and the rest is just water and syrup or sugar I guess.