Mebos is a tasty South African dish prepared with sweet and salted minced apricots. This fruity snack is high in fibre, low in fat, and gluten free. Mebos, made with only the best dried apricots, will keep you fuller for longer and fulfill any appetite. They’re high in energy, so bring some in your backpack on hikes to keep you going.
Made from dried apricots, this is one of the Cape’s oldest sweet confections. The word mebos is supposed to be derived from the Japanese “umeboshi,” which means pickled plum, or the Arabic “mush mush,” which means apricot.
To produce mebos, ripe apricots are dipped in brine, dried, and placed in a jar with a heavy coating of sugar between each layer, imparting a delightful sour salt flavor to the mebos. Mebos is also an inaccurate word for other dry fruit confections such as sugary minced fruit squares or dried fruit rolls.
Mebos
Ingredients
- unblemished ripe apricots
- salt
- water
- sugar
Instructions
- Make a brine solution, using 250 grams salt to 2 litres water
- Soak the apricots overnight and remove the skins the next day
- Leave the apricots out in the sun for a day to soften, then gently squeeze out stones
- Shape into flat rounds — if the apricots are small, 2 or 3 may be pressed together at the same time, in a round, flat shape
- Spread out on racks in the sun and leave for 4 to 6 days, covered with muslin.
- Turn fruit regularly and ensure free air circulation
- Bring inside overnight — alternatively, dry mebos in a cool convection oven (60°C) for 6 hours, turning occasionally
- Pack the dried mebos neatly into small boxes and sprinkle with sugar — use about 750 grams sugar per 500 grams mebos.
