Saladitos are a

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

snack of

dried Drying is a mass transfer process consisting of the removal of water or another solvent by evaporation from a solid, semi-solid or liquid. This process is often used as a final production step before selling or packaging products. To be consider ...

and salted

plum A plum is a fruit of some species in Prunus subg. Prunus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are often called prunes, though in the United States they may be labeled as 'dried plums', especially during the 21st century. Plums are ...

s or

apricot An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''. Usually an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...

, which can also be sweetened with sugar and

anise Anise (; '), also called aniseed or rarely anix, is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to the eastern Mediterranean region and Southwest Asia. The flavor and aroma of its seeds have similarities with some other spices and herbs, ...

or coated in chili and

lime Lime most commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Bo ...

. A common misconception is that saladitos and chamoy are the same thing; saladitos are the dried salted fruit, whereas chamoy is made from the leftover brine.

History

Saladitos and chamoy are derived from the kiamoy ("ciamoy" in

Philippine Spanish Philippine Spanish ( or ) is the variety of standard Spanish spoken in the Philippines, used primarily by Spanish Filipinos. Spanish as spoken in the Philippines contains a number of features that distinguishes it from other varieties of ...

) and champóy of the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, which themselves originated from ''

li hing mui Li hing mui (), known as huamei () in mainland China, is salty dried Chinese plum (''Prunus mume''). It has a strong, distinctive flavor and is often said to be an acquired taste, as it has a combination of sweet, sour, and salty taste. Original ...

'' brought over by

Hokkien Hokkien ( , ) is a Varieties of Chinese, variety of the Southern Min group of Chinese language, Chinese languages. Native to and originating from the Minnan region in the southeastern part of Fujian in southeastern China, it is also referred ...

migrants Migrant is a term that may refer to: Human migration *Human migration, including: **Emigration, leaving one's resident country with the intent to settle elsewhere. 1988 Webster's Definition. One who migrates, esp. from 1 region to another in sear ...

to the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period. They were likely transported to

Nueva España New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

by Filipino migrants via the

Manila Galleons The Manila galleon (; ) refers to the Spanish trading ships that linked the Philippines in the Spanish East Indies to Mexico (New Spain), across the Pacific Ocean. The ships made one or two round-trip voyages per year between the ports of Man ...

(1565 to 1815).

Consumption

One method of eating saladitos is to stuff a few of them into an

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

lemon The lemon (''Citrus'' × ''limon'') is a species of small evergreen tree in the ''Citrus'' genus of the flowering plant family Rutaceae. A true lemon is a hybrid of the citron and the bitter orange. Its origins are uncertain, but some ...

and then suck the salted juice out, while allowing the saladito to rehydrate. Once all the juice is eaten, the saladitos are eaten. The pits can be cracked open to eat the seed, too. Another method is to eat the saladito without any other fruit, and either cracking open the pit to eat the seed or discarding the pit. One can also first rinse the saladito with water, and then eat it plain. On some occasions, a few saladitos may be put into drinks like Micheladas, Sprite,

ginger ale Ginger ale is a carbonated soft drink flavoured with ginger. It is consumed on its own or used as a mixer, often with spirit-based drinks. There are two main types of ginger ale. The golden style is credited to the Irish doctor Thomas Joseph ...

beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...

. Once the saladito is placed in the soda, bubbles will begin to rise immediately. There is also a

mezcal Mezcal (, ), sometimes spelled mescal, is a liquor, distilled alcoholic beverage made from any type of agave. Agaves or magueys are endemic to the Americas and found globally as ornamental plants. The ''Agave'' genus is a member of the Agavoid ...

cocktail that shares the name saladito.

Recalls

A recall notice was issued in the United States in 2009 by the

Texas Department of State Health Services Texas Department of State Health Services is a state agency of Texas. The department was created by House Bill 2292 of the 78th Texas Legislature in 2003 through the merging of four state agencies: the Texas Department of Health, Texas Departmen ...

, when saladitos believed to have been sourced from Asia were found to have levels of lead exceeding health guidelines. In 2021–2022, the

California Department of Public Health The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is the state department responsible for public health in California. It is a subdivision of the California Health and Human Services Agency. It enforces some of the laws in the California Health ...

issued a recall warning on eight brands of saladitos manufactured in China and Taiwan, also found to have levels of lead exceeding health guidelines.

References

Dried fruit Mexican cuisine Plum dishes {{mexico-cuisine-stub

History

Consumption

Recalls

See also

References