umeboshi

[torakris]

I found them online at the beef jerky store, you can shop in person in Las Vegas, if you happen to live there.

never tried making them.....

and Ariel, welcome to eGullet and the Japan Forum!!

[torakris]

here is a previous thread on web sources for Japanese products

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

I bought a package of Kari Kari Ume when I was visiting my parents down in Southern California this weekend. They taste good, but crunchy umeboshi will take some getting used to.

[Culinista]

Just mentioning umeboshi brings on Pavlovian mouth watering...

My grandmother used to send us umeboshi air mail in the 70s. She carefully de-seeded them to decrease the weight for shipping, and my mom used to dole them out as a special treat, dividing each one among 6 kids. Even today, the idea of having a whole one all to myself seems like a luxury.

My gaijin hubby was never wild about umeboshi until we went to my aunt's house in Yokohama this weekend. She served soft, delicate nanko ume, which had a less salty, more floral taste. The next day at another aunt's house, we had handmade nanko ume, and my husband was sold. Tucked in our luggage is a Tupperware with a dozen or so, and I will dole them out as carefully as my mother used to do.

We had one spectacular ume dish at Izusen, the shojin ryori (Buddhist vegetarian cuisine) restaurant in the Zen temple complex of Daitokuji in Kyoto. It was a large, sweet, juicy tempura ume. It tasted only slightly dried and salted, not sour at all, and was covered in the thinnest, laciest veil of tempura batter. The pit was split in two, so we could get at the kernel.

At Iwaso Ryokan in Miyajima, we had a nice umeshu (plum wine) with a twist of orange and cut with white wine.

Edited March 1, 2005 by Culinista (log)

[SuzySushi]

Talking about green kari kari ume reminds me of when I first encountered them in Japan: in soup!

When dining at the counter in a traditional Japanese restaurant in one of the Tokyo department stores, I was served a bowl of clear soup in which appeared to be floating an olive. I wasn't sure what it was, and whether it was edible (hey, some of the leaves used as garnishes on plates aren't!), so I asked the woman sitting next to me and she explained that it was an ume. Before that, I'd only seen the pink and red ones.

[Hiroyuki]

Also, can I please have a recipe for making them?

←

I will post a recipe when I have enough time.

But, can you get those small ume in your area?

http://www.pickled-ume.com/info/karikari_ume.html

[Ariel]

Also, can I please have a recipe for making them?

←

I will post a recipe when I have enough time.

But, can you get those small ume in your area?

http://www.pickled-ume.com/info/karikari_ume.html

←

Thanks I would love the recipe! I haven't seen them as small as the one in your photo but they are close, maybe 1cm bigger.

[Hiroyuki]

Making karikari ume

The following is a recipe for making small to medium size karikari (crunchy) ume.

Note: This recipe is subject to revision.

I once made karikari ume for my mother, but they turned out rather soft. I didn't know at that time that eggshells were a key to success. I think I'll make them again when ume are in season and revise this recipe and add some photos.

Cautions:

1. Don't use anything metallic. Ume are acidic.

2. Don't eat hard and green ume because they are toxic. (But don't panic if you do. Eating 100 and 300 ume would kill a child and an adult, respectively.)

Ingredients:

1. 1 kg ume

Recommended variety: Small variety, 'Koshu Saisho', produced in Yamanashi, Japan

2. 2 eggshells

3. 50 to 80 ml shochu (35-proof white liquor), to be poured over ume after they are all put in container

4. 100 to 120 g salt (10 to 12% of the weight of ume)

Native salt recommended.

5. Shochu, used for disinfection.

- If using aka jiso (red shiso), put them after the liquid called umezu (plum vinegar) comes out completely.

Equipment:

1. Container made of glass, plastic, or ceramic (not metal)

2. 'Drop lid' or plate, to be placed on top of ume

3. 2 kg weight (twice as heavy as ume)

PET bottle with water in it recommended because you can halve its weight later easily.

4. Gauze, used to wrap crumbled eggshells

5. Toothpick or bamboo skewer, used to remove the steam end from each ume.

6. Rubber gloves

7. Spray bottle and/or cloth

8. Small container, small enough to fit in refrigerator.

9. Paper towels

- How to make karikari ume

A. Prepare eggshells:

Using eggshells prevents ume from softening.

1. Peel off the membrane from the inside of eggshells thoroughly.

2. Rinse eggshells in water.

3. Expose to the sun for 1 or 2 days to dry.

4. Crumble and wrap in gauze.

When you start preparing eggshells, order ume from green grocer. Freshness is the key; order hard and green ones.

B. Prepare ume:

1. First roll ume in water to wash.

2. Soak in plenty of water for 1 to 2 hours to remove harshness.

(Otherwise, the liquid that comes out from ume, called umezu, will become cloudy.)

3. Take out one ume from water, remove the stem end from it, using toothpick or bamboo skewer, and put it in colander.

Repeat this step for all ume.

(Otherwise, the liquid called umezu will become cloudy.)

4. Remove water from all ume, using paper towel or something similar.

(Otherwise, mold may result.)

C. Disinfect container, drop lid, weight, and gloves (everything that comes in contact with ume):

1. Wash container, etc. with soapy water, rinse with water, and dry.

2. Put shochu in spray bottle and spray for disinfection.

Alternatively, wipe with cloth impregnated with shochu.

(To make doubly sure, disinfect with boiling water before step 2.)

D. Pickle ume

1. Just like making regular umeboshi, sprinkle some salt on bottom of container.

2. Lay out a layer of ume, one-ume thick.

3. Put eggshells wrapped in gauze.

4. Repeat steps 1. and 2.

As you go higher, increase the amount of salt sprinkled.

5. Pour shochu evenly, and sprinkle remaining salt.

6. Place drop lid on top of ume, then weight on top of lid.

E. Daily care, etc.

It will take at least 3 days for the liquid called umezu to come out thoroughly.

1. Once or twice a day, take off weight and drop lid, and rock container so that salt is distributed evenly.

2. When liquid comes up above drop lid level, transfer to container small enough to fit in refrigerator, and halve the weight.

3. Put in refrigerator.

4. In a month, remove weight. Ume are now ready to eat.

Finish off in 3 months to enjoy good flavor.

[Hiroyuki]

Also, can I please have a recipe for making them?

←

I will post a recipe when I have enough time.

But, can you get those small ume in your area?

http://www.pickled-ume.com/info/karikari_ume.html

←

Thanks I would love the recipe! I haven't seen them as small as the one in your photo but they are close, maybe 1cm bigger.

←

A recipe for karikari ume deserves its own thread, so here it is:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...=0entry862981

[Ariel]

Thanks!

I just have one question, I'm not sure what you mean about not eating the green hard ones. Do you mean that I should not eat the unripened fruit that has not been pickled? All of the kari kari ume I have had is green and hard and I have heard that I shouldn't eat a lot of the seeds inside but not about the unripened fruit being bad. I can't wait to try to make a batch

[Ariel]

I got the ume from the Las Vegas beef jerky store today and I tried two kinds. One type was green and I was really excited to finally have them but unfortunatly although they looked crunchy they were actually pretty soft and much sweeter than I would have liked. The red version they had (Ume Dama) was crunchy and good but still not as great as the ones I am used to. I can't pinpoint what it is that is different but I looked at the ingredients and it might be the garlic which is listied as a main ingredient or their "spice" listing. Also, they are not as sour as the ones I love. I am still really happy to have found something to cure my karikari ume cravings for now.

Does anyone know the scientific, latin name for the type of plum that is used to make these? A friend was telling me that there was a nursery around with several types of plum trees and I am curious to see if they might have this kind.

Thanks

[Hiroyuki]

Thanks!

I just have one question, I'm not sure what you mean about not eating the green hard ones. Do you mean that I should not eat the unripened fruit that has not been pickled? All of the kari kari ume I have had is green and hard and I have heard that I shouldn't eat a lot of the seeds inside but not about the unripened fruit being bad. I can't wait to try to make a batch

←

Sorry, I am no scientist. Here is what I found:

Un-pickled ume contain a small amount of cyanide, and if you eat a lot of them, you may have diarrhea. When pickled in salt or alcohol, ume are no longer toxic because the cyanide in them is neutralized.

from here

http://www.tim.hi-ho.ne.jp/agtusa/qa/umegimon.html#10

(Japanese only)

[Ariel]

That is really interesting, thanks! Also, at the end of the recipe when you transfer to container small enough to fit in refrigerator do you also transfer the liquid or keep them dry?

[Hiroyuki]

That is really interesting, thanks! Also, at the end of the recipe when you transfer to container small enough to fit in refrigerator do you also transfer the liquid or keep them dry?

←

Oh, sorry, transfer the liquid too.

This liquid, umezu (plum vinegar), is quite versatile in Japanese cuisine. I'll post some more information about it later.

[helenjp]

prunus mume is the plant you want BUT but but but, in the low down cunning way of the gardening world, western gardeners have developed a NON-FRUITING variety known as a flowering plum, just to avoid having all those annoying ume fruit lying around all over the place.

So if you wanted to buy one, you would have to be very sure it was a FRUITING variety, and you would likely need to find an Asian plants specialist to get one.

Moreover, some varieties of fruiting ume which produce large fruit do not produce a lot of pollen, so you need to plant another variety of ume which flowers at the same time to help the blossoms set fruit. Small-fruiting varieties of ume are usually self-fertile, so a single tree should produce fruit.

[Hiroyuki]

I can't find any recipe written in English that calls for umezu.

General information about umezu:

http://www.muso-intl.co.jp/ENGLISH/Seasoning/Vinegar6_1.html

http://www.foodsubs.com/Vinegars.html

(You have to scroll all the way down.)

Daikon pickled in umezu, mirin, vinegar, water, and sugar:

http://www.shufu2.jp/season/ume/08.html

(Japanese only)

tomato and mozzarella salad, with dressing of umezu, olive oil, pepper, and garlic

http://www.linkclub.or.jp/~amana/6/umezu.html

(2nd photo; Japanese only)

[torakris]

mizuna and tofu with a umeboshi dressing

for the dressing I smashed up 5 small (mild flavored) umeboshi and mixed it with a bit of tubed wasabi then added a bit of rice vinegar, mirin, soy sauce and canola oil.

A wonderfully refreshing dish.

[torakris]

The produce sections are full of the green plums, anyone pickling this year?

[helenjp]

Woah, our plums are dropping outside in the night, I *knew* I should have harvested them today!

I'm planning to take some of my squishier umeboshi from previous years (the ones down the bottom of the pickle barrel) and make shisomaki out of them. Can't decide whether to add a little sugar or not...

Anybody tried making home-made versions of those chewy ume snacks? Something like a fruit leather...

[anzu]

How important is it that umeboshi are refrigerated?

The only ones I can buy here are in little plastic tubs, clearly marked 'Keep refrigerated at all times', but they are being sold at room temperature and have been at room temperature for an unknown period of time already. Probably several months.

Should I go ahead and buy them, or would I be wasting my money?

Helen, ume as fruit leather sounds wonderful!! I've made fruit leather with unripe mangoes and with quinces, and gorged myself on an Iranian fruit leather made with sour cherries. That combination of sour and sweet is just irresistable.

The only problem with them is the tendency to overeat. My husband once ate the equivalent of 20 unripe mangoes in one day.

[helenjp]

Keep refrigerated?Hmm. Home-made umeboshi have negligible amounts of sugar (maybe a little from the shochu used to prevent mold, but rarely more). However, commercial umeboshi often contain astonishing amounts of sweeteners. That's one reason why they don't keep as well.

Also, katsuo-umeboshi don't keep well, sadly.

I just wasted a huge amount of time making shisomaki umeboshi-paste roll-ups - I took some extremely sour (made from very ripe fruit) and wet umeboshi, and mixed them with some dark brown sugar, and removed the stones before wrapping them in salted and vinegared red shiso leaves. These tiny cigarette-shaped preserves seem to take up no space at all, and about half a pound (at least) of shiso leaves and 40 or more umeboshi fit into one small container!

[AzianBrewer]

Long before mojito became the cocktail of fad. I have muddled umeboshi and shiso leave with a bit of simple syrup, soju and soda. The taste of sweet, sour, salty and refreshing in one. Do not have a name for it back then. We called it the house cocktail.

[torakris]

My newest find

Kurozato hachimitsu ume ("black" sugar-honey pickled plums)

They are a nice mild flavor but I was disappointed by the lack of kurozato flavor...

[Sencha]

Kurozatou and ume? I don't know why I've never thought of that before. That sounds wonderful!

It's a shame it lacked the kurozatou flavor as you mentioned...

[helenjp]

I made some umeboshi paste and kurozato preserves described upthread, and it DID take a lot of kurozato to make an impact on the flavor. They taste quite nice, but of course being sweet, they go better with tea than with rice.