Mut Ca Chua Bi (Whole Cherry Tomato Preserve), No Added Refined Sugar

Method

1. Prick 1kg cherry tomatoes all over with a toothpick, rinse them and drain.
2. Dissolve 20g slaked lime in cold water, let it settle for a few hours, pour off the clear liquid and strain it through cloth. Soak the tomatoes in the clear limewater for 10 hours, then rinse them until no lime smell remains.
3. Crush 10g alum, boil it with 1.5 liters water, then let it cool. Soak the tomatoes in this solution for another 10 hours and rinse them again.
4. Layer the tomatoes and the 360g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend alternately in a large bowl, cover it and leave it until the sweetener has fully dissolved.
5. Heat a large pan, add 50ml water, tip in the tomatoes and syrup and cook over high heat. Once it boils, lower the heat and cook until the syrup reduces and pulls into threads.
6. Lift each tomato onto a parchment lined tray and dry it in the sun for 2 days, in the fridge, or in the oven for 30 minutes at 90 degrees C.
7. Once the preserve is completely cool, store it in a sealed jar.

Tips

• Stir very gently so the tomatoes do not break.
• Go easy on the lime, since too much leaves a strong lime smell.
• Soak in limewater and then in alum water, as both steps are what firm the fruit and keep the skins from splitting.
• Prick the tomatoes all over with a toothpick before soaking so they take up flavor evenly and the skins hold.
• Let the preserve cool completely before jarring, since jarring it warm makes it weep.