umeboshi

[shinju]

I have a couple of questions about the ume 'boshi' I have. Obviously I'm supposed to dry them before using them - how do I do that? I am going to move in a few weeks time to Tokyo, and I would like to use these pickling ume up by then. Have I actually jumped the gun and consumed them too early? And I suppose there are good uses for the pink pickling liquid - any suggestions?

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Usually drying time occurs in mid July after the rainy season is over in Japan (not here in California - lol). I believe it takes 3 days of drying outside. When dry enough you can pick one up with your fingers holding the skin only.

Good luck on your move to Tokyo.

[jean_genie]

Yesterday, I made ume spaghetti using the umebishio I made.  This is the 4th time I made this within a month. I used both shiso and spinach this time.

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Mmm, that looks good. I was wondering how to use the umebishio, but I guess I should use my imagination!

[jean_genie]

Usually drying time occurs in mid July after the rainy season is over in Japan (not here in California - lol).  I believe it takes 3 days of drying outside.  When dry enough you can pick one up with your fingers holding the skin only. 

Good luck on your move to Tokyo.

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Thanks shinju. A few days in the refridgerator seem to work well at drying the pickled ume [friends were quite curious as to why I had pink ume on a rack in the fridge]. It's almost mid-July so perhaps the meteorology centre will soon deem that rainy season is over!

[jean_genie]

First make umebishio:

5 umeboshi - make into paste

suguar 20% weight of ume paste

1 T mirin

Simmer until shiny. 

Just wanted to say I made umebishio last night, and it's nice I added an extra step to shinju's recipe: I first soaked the pickled ume for 4-5days in water (changing the water every two days) to remove the saltiness. The taste of umebishio reminds me of the plum sauce that usually comes with Chinese roast duck. I think the umebishio will go well with pork.

Perhaps I might try making umemiso next..

Edited July 10, 2007 by jean_genie (log)

[shinju]

I'm glad to hear that your umebishio worked out ok. Yes, I also soak umeboshi for 8-10 hours first (changing water 3-4 times) to get rid of the saltiness. To make ume pasta, simple add umebishio to butter and minced or chopped shiso and/or spinach. Toss with pasta. Very, very simple. I sometimes use minced and sauteed panchetta to the mix as well. Umebishio works very well with making salad dressings, ume tsuyu, etc.

[shinju]

Here is another dish I came up with using umebishio. I had a half container silken tofu and wanted to use that as a filling for fresh anaheim peppers. I often order chile rellano when going to Mexican restaurant and borrowed a bit of that here without adding any fat like cheese or frying.

Although I enjoy when different flavors all meld together like stew, soup, braised food, etc, I also enjoy foods where you can actually taste the individual components. I mixed silken tofu with umebishio and minced nira as a filling for 2 anaheim peppers. Baked for 25 minutes only. Peppers were still crisp but not hard and tofu filling really complemented the crispness and taste of anaheim well. I can still taste tofu, umebishio, nira and anaheim separately.

[Dianabanana]

I have a couple of questions about umeboshi.

1) The first ones I ever tried are still the ones that I ordinarily buy, and I really love them. They are Eden brand and the only ingredients are ume, shiso, and salt. I have looked at Uwajimaya (big Asian grocery in Seattle) for other brands, but they all have a bunch of other chemical-y ingredients and food coloring. Is this what is commonly available in Japan as well?

2) I bought a package of honey umeboshi but they too had a bunch of chemical-y ingredients. I assumed that maybe more preservatives were necessary because of the lower salt content. Anyway, the umeboshi tasted pretty good but left a horrible aftertaste, really just awful. They were Shirakiku brand. Is it possible to buy all-natural honey umeboshi? Brand names?

[helenjp]

1) It is true that it is hard to find pickles and umeboshi made without additives. The crispy red and green ones in particular are usually colored.

Somebody gave me a box of expensive ones recently...the label includes

Ume, salt, sugars (high fructose corn syrup, food-processing grade vinegar, reconstituted barley malt, fermented (yeast-derived???) flavorings, glutamic acid, flavorings including other amino acids, sake lees, souring agents, sweeteners (sucralose etc), vitamin B1

2) I googled additive free umeboshi, and the typical product ingredients were salt, high fructose corn syrup, sake lees, and Vit. B1

I make honey umeboshi when the weather is warm and dry, by soaking regular umeboshi in water (changing frequently) for 1-3 days, depending how salty they were, and drying them till nice and wrinkly. Then simply put them in a container and cover with liquid honey - they will plump up nicely.

There is a method of using honey to make honey umeboshi right from the start but I have never done so.

Ｐｉｃｋｌｅｄ－ｕｍｅ．ｃｏｍ has quite a lot about making umeboshi in English, but they also have a Japanese recipe for making honey umeboshi. The author used 17% salt (that is, 17% of the weight of the raw ume in coarse pickling salt) to make umeboshi as usual. Once the ume brine had risen to the top of the ume during pickling, she mixed in 10% honey (10% of the original weight of the ume) and continued to pickle and dry them as usual.

This type of ume need to be kept very clean and watched carefully while making.

[Dianabanana]

Thanks Helen! I will definitely give your method a try, and it should be really good if I use the Eden umeboshi. Seems ridiculous to have all these other ingredients in them when they only make them taste bad and are totally unnecessary, at least in my very limited experience!