Homemade Li Hing Mui Gummy Bear

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Homemade gummy bear coated in a vibrant red li hing mui powder.

What is Li Hing Mui Gummy Bear?

In Hawaii we love some good ol’ red powder. What is this red powder? We affectionately call it “li hing mui” (lee-hee-moo-’ee). A combination of li hing mui with gummy bears and a little bit of drizzled in lemon juice, sprinkle some sugar, and *chef’s kiss* you have da bomb snack Li Hing Mui Gummy Bears.

What is li hing mui?

Like many recipes of Hawaii, li hing mui made its way to Hawaii from the Chinese. “Li hing mui” actually means “traveling plum.” In China it is known as huamei. Usually li hing mui is a dried salted plum or known in Hawaii as “Crack Seed”. It’s a combination of sweet, salty, and sour. With its unique taste, it does take an acquired taste to appreciate it.

Now that I talked about the actual li hing mui (dried plum), there is also a powder version. The powder is ground up from the dried plum and combined with licorice, red food coloring, salt, and sugar and sometimes aspartame. This is the powder that a lot of locals sprinkle on shave ice, fruits (pineapples, apples, mangoes, etc.), popcorn, arare, etc.

Homemade gummies or store bought?

If you want to make homemade gummy bears, I highly encourage you to read on and use my recipe! You can control what type of flavoring you want in your gummies or even some additional tweaks of your own 😉

But if you would like to save some time, you could always buy your gummy pack from your store and add on the li hing mui powder and lemon juice. My favorite brand of gummies are the Albanese and Black Forest.

What are the ingredients for gummy bears?

Some of the ingredients you can definitely find at the grocery store, but some you will need to order online, but hey who doesn’t have an Amazon account yet?

• Sugar – it’s the main sweetener and most likely in your pantry
• Candy flavoring – I swear by this! It is what gives you the most flavor and the most identical taste to candy. But if you’d like more of a unique taste like P.O.G. (passion, orange, guava) gummies, you can replace the candy flavoring, water, and some sugar.
• Corn Syrup – It’s what gives it the nice chewy texture for the gummy while making them soft.
• Sorbitol – This is what gives that gummy bear texture! You’ll most likely need to order this online since most groceries don’t carry it.
• Citric Acid – It gives the gummies that nice tart flavor due to the citric acid being sour like citric fruits.

How do you make the gummy bear shapes?

I bought a three pack gummy mold off of amazon. It comes equipped with three droppers that will help with filling the gummy molds. 

I also believe that using an oil spray on the mold will help lessen the gummies stickiness and make it easier to peel from.

How to make li hing mui gummy bear

Combine the gelatin and water in a microwave bowl. Let it bloom for 5 minutes. Set aside.

Combine sugar, corn syrup, and sorbitol in a pot over medium heat. Bring it to a simmer and stir until the sugar has dissolved.

Add citric acid and sugar mixture to the gelatin bowl. Stir until the gelatin has melted.

Scrape off the foam with a spoon. Divide the gelatin up to three different bowls for three different flavorings.

Stir in ½ teaspoon of flavoring to each bowl and add 2-3 drops of food coloring according to the flavoring.

Lay the gummy mold on a baking sheet and lightly spray the mold with oil. Using a dropper, carefully fill the gummy molds. If the gelatin starts to firm up, nuke it in the microwave for a few seconds until it becomes liquified again. Chill in the fridge for up to 24 hours. The longer it chills, the less sticky the gummies are.

Pop the gummies out from the mold and add it to a bowl. In a small separate bowl, add in the lemon juice, sugar, and li hing mui powder. Stir to combine. Add the li hing mui mixture to the gummy bowl. Stir to coat all of the gummies. Adjust the ratio of li hing mui to your preference.

Serve and enjoy these onolicious Li Hing Mui Gummy Bears.

Give this onolicious recipe a try! If you did give it a try, please leave a comment with a star rating below. Mahalo!