umeboshi

[greenspot]

Thanks hiroyuki, I will look out for the milder hachimitsu ume when I am in Tokyo next weekend.

I had the umeboshi sour in a Chinese-run Japanese kama-meshi restaurant in Hong Kong. I didn't like the drink very much, it tasted like salty soda water.

Edited June 21, 2007 by greenspot (log)

[SheenaGreena]

I read that you can use umeboshi to pickle vegetables, is this true? I have a lot of them and some shiso and I was wondering if anyone had any good recipes using them or just the umeboshi and some other vegetable?

I think the pickle would make a good gift to take home to my mother when I go visit her.

how do you make umeboshi vinegar? can I drop a few umeboshi in a bottle of vinegar?

Edited June 27, 2007 by SheenaGreena (log)

[shinju]

The ume vinegar I have put up consists of fresh ume from my tree, rice vinegar, and some kouri (not sure what English transalation of this) sugar (not much) because I don't like things too sweet. I will start using this in one year.

I have not heard of umeboshi vinegar or vegetable pickles made with umeboshi.

Perhaps as gift for your mom, how about umemiso using Korean miso. You can use this as a dip for shrimp fry, smeared a bit on meat balls, as a base for cold steamed veggies, and for grilling meats and fish.

[SheenaGreena]

what's umemiso?

the only dwaengjang I have is homemade and my mother gave it to .....i'm not going to give it back to her (: but maybe I can make myself some ume miso?

I haven't heard of ume pickled veggies either, but I read it somewhere on another webpage and I'll try to find the quote

here we go

Ume paste can also be used to make salad dressing, or can be mixed in with rice vinegar to make pickles (ume-pickled radish or eggplant is very refreshing)

another_adam said this on chowhound.com

Edited June 27, 2007 by SheenaGreena (log)

[JasonTrue]

If you're looking for umeboshi in Tokyo, although you can certainly find them in any department store, consider stopping in Yuurakuchou (near Ginza). There's a specialty store focusing on Wakayama products, one of the most famous of which is umeboshi. They'll let you taste any of their umeboshi before buying. It's in the basement of the building that houses Mura-kara-machi-kara-kan (a specialty food shop focused on regional things), and Hokkaido dosanko plaza, as well as a Toyama specialty food shop. Within walking distance there's also an Okinawan market.

Some photos of the umeboshi I took back with me in May:

Wakayama Umeboshi

[JasonTrue]

The ume-su I've seen before is usually fairly salty, as it was historically a byproduct of umeboshi production. It was once popular among macrobiotic practitioners.

However I'm sure you could ferment ume without the salt, then you would get a different style of vinegar.

[SheenaGreena]

sorry, not going to japan anytime soon. The only time I go there is on the way to seoul, and I'm only there for an hour or two (:

so I can't just take umeboshi and throw them into some white or rice vinegar?

Im on a vinegar kick today. I just made some shiso and persimmon vinegar and I had so much fun I thought I wanted to make some ume su.

[JasonTrue]

Ah, the going to Japan comment was meant for Greenspot, who is probably already done with his trip, but I wasn't sure.

The umesu that I know is not very similar to umeboshi mixed with vinegar; it's more of a vinegar that came the juices that emerged from pickling umeboshi. However, there's nothing wrong with blending ume and vinegar and using it for flavoring.

[SheenaGreena]

sounds good to me, I'll just have to try that out then. Is ume su expensive if I were to buy it at a japanese grocer? I hear it tastes pretty good when added to carbonated water.

[Hiroyuki]

sounds good to me, I'll just have to try that out then.  Is ume su expensive if I were to buy it at a japanese grocer?  I hear it tastes pretty good when added to carbonated water.

←

Now it's obvious that you are talking about another type of umesu (or umezu). When I first read your thread, I thought you were talking about the byproduct of umeboshi making.

Here is one recipe from here

1 kg ume

500 g brown sugar

900 ml x 2 (= 1800 ml) rice vinegar

Put them all in a glass container for one month.

and other from here

1 kg green ume

1.8 L vinegar

0.8 to 1 kg rock sugar (koori zao)

[JasonTrue]

The salty umesu (umezu) is not cheap, but it's not very expensive either. I've found it in natural foods stores sometimes as well.

I've never bought the umesu that is made without salt, but I bet ume-kurosu would sell in the Japanese market as a drinking vinegar, blended with water or soda.

[SheenaGreena]

sounds good to me, I'll just have to try that out then.  Is ume su expensive if I were to buy it at a japanese grocer?  I hear it tastes pretty good when added to carbonated water.

←

Now it's obvious that you are talking about another type of umesu (or umezu). When I first read your thread, I thought you were talking about the byproduct of umeboshi making.

Here is one recipe from here

1 kg ume

500 g brown sugar

900 ml x 2 (= 1800 ml) rice vinegar

Put them all in a glass container for one month.

and other from here

1 kg green ume

1.8 L vinegar

0.8 to 1 kg rock sugar (koori zao)

←

uh oh. all I have is umeboshi, not regular unpickled plums. I have no idea where to get plums...all we have here are american plums which I am sure aren't the same thing. However I bet I can get some when I go to maryland when I go to a korean store?

hiroyuki, could you possibly post a link to what japanese plums would look like? thank you very much

[SheenaGreena]

Here is another quote from another_adam on chowhound.com who talks about pickling vegetables with umeboshi paste and some mirin or vinegar. sounds delicious

any of you do the same?

I usually mix about 2 umeboshi with a splash (a tablespoon or so?) of mirin. You can actually use it just like that for quick pickles (toss into turnips or radishes that were salted and left sitting for a little while). You can also toss in a splash of vinegar if you want. With eggplant, I like it to be more pickled, so I add more vinegar (about one part vinegar to one part mirin/ume mix) and combine it with the eggplant after it sat with salt for a while. Extra shiso would probably go well with the eggplant. (With a lot of shiso, I'd go for shiso-ume salad or pasta sauce, though)

[JasonTrue]

Ume are mae sil in Korean. The season is probably just about over in most of the US; at my Japanese market I picked up some about a month ago to make kokutou-umeshu (black sugar ume "wine"). The ones I saw this weekend were already getting soft and yellow, so they're probably a little too ripe for umeshu, but might be fine for koori umesu.

Ume aren't really a variety of plum. They are more closely related to apricots, though much more sour and generally much firmer.

sounds good to me, I'll just have to try that out then.  Is ume su expensive if I were to buy it at a japanese grocer?  I hear it tastes pretty good when added to carbonated water.

←

Now it's obvious that you are talking about another type of umesu (or umezu). When I first read your thread, I thought you were talking about the byproduct of umeboshi making.

Here is one recipe from here

1 kg ume

500 g brown sugar

900 ml x 2 (= 1800 ml) rice vinegar

Put them all in a glass container for one month.

and other from here

1 kg green ume

1.8 L vinegar

0.8 to 1 kg rock sugar (koori zao)

←

uh oh. all I have is umeboshi, not regular unpickled plums. I have no idea where to get plums...all we have here are american plums which I am sure aren't the same thing. However I bet I can get some when I go to maryland when I go to a korean store?

hiroyuki, could you possibly post a link to what japanese plums would look like? thank you very much

←

[SheenaGreena]

I see. crap that sucks. i know that my grandparents (american) have a plum tree in their front yard...but they are purple. I guess I'll have to wait till next year or maybe I will get lucky in maryland

[SheenaGreena]

jason, if by chance I were to find plums, how would I go about pickling them If I wanted to make homemade umeboshi? just leave them out in the sun to dry and coverd in salt?

I just made a really refreshing drink of water, ice, smashed umeboshi, homemade shiso vinegar, and some honey. I bet it would be really good with some carbonated water. This seems like a really good summer drink

Edited June 28, 2007 by SheenaGreena (log)

[Hiroyuki]

sounds good to me, I'll just have to try that out then.  Is ume su expensive if I were to buy it at a japanese grocer?  I hear it tastes pretty good when added to carbonated water.

←

Now it's obvious that you are talking about another type of umesu (or umezu). When I first read your thread, I thought you were talking about the byproduct of umeboshi making.

Here is one recipe from here

1 kg ume

500 g brown sugar

900 ml x 2 (= 1800 ml) rice vinegar

Put them all in a glass container for one month.

and other from here

1 kg green ume

1.8 L vinegar

0.8 to 1 kg rock sugar (koori zao)

←

uh oh. all I have is umeboshi, not regular unpickled plums. I have no idea where to get plums...all we have here are american plums which I am sure aren't the same thing. However I bet I can get some when I go to maryland when I go to a korean store?

hiroyuki, could you possibly post a link to what japanese plums would look like? thank you very much

←

OK, take a look:

http://www.pickled-ume.com/english/index.html

Scroll down and see the second photo on the right.

A description of ume

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ume

[Hiroyuki]

Here is another quote from another_adam on chowhound.com who talks about pickling vegetables with umeboshi paste and some mirin or vinegar.  sounds delicious

any of you do the same?

I usually mix about 2 umeboshi with a splash (a tablespoon or so?) of mirin. You can actually use it just like that for quick pickles (toss into turnips or radishes that were salted and left sitting for a little while). You can also toss in a splash of vinegar if you want. With eggplant, I like it to be more pickled, so I add more vinegar (about one part vinegar to one part mirin/ume mix) and combine it with the eggplant after it sat with salt for a while. Extra shiso would probably go well with the eggplant. (With a lot of shiso, I'd go for shiso-ume salad or pasta sauce, though)

←

Not do the same, but do a similar thing, like combining finely chopped umeboshi, mirin, instant dashi, and katsuobushi together.

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

The salty umesu (umezu) is not cheap, but it's not very expensive either. I've found it in natural foods stores sometimes as well.

Here in the US, the easiest one to find is the variety made by Eden Foods. When my oldest was allergic to soy, we used it as a substitute for small amounts of soy sauce because it has a similar salt content and tang to it. It's something like $3 for a 10oz bottle.

[Hiroyuki]

jason, if by chance I were to find plums, how would I go about pickling them If I wanted to make homemade umeboshi? just leave them out in the sun to dry and coverd in salt?

I just made a really refreshing drink of water, ice, smashed umeboshi, homemade shiso vinegar, and some honey.  I bet it would be really good with some carbonated water.  This seems like a really good summer drink

←

As for your question, I'm sure Helen has some nice recipes. I wonder where she is...

About your umeboshi drink, I must say I don't want to use umeboshi in a drink because they are not only sour but salty! I would use ume pickled in shochu and sugar instead.

(Made by my mother)

[shinju]

what's umemiso? 

the only dwaengjang I have is homemade and my mother gave it to .....i'm not going to give it back to her (:  but maybe I can make myself some ume miso?

I haven't heard of ume pickled veggies either, but I read it somewhere on another webpage and I'll try to find the quote

here we go

Ume paste can also be used to make salad dressing, or can be mixed in with rice vinegar to make pickles (ume-pickled radish or eggplant is very refreshing)

another_adam said this on chowhound.com

←

To make umemiso:

First make umebishio:

5 umeboshi - make into paste

suguar 20% weight of ume paste

1 T mirin

Simmer until shiny. Then,

Combine umebishio from above with

50 gram miso

2 T mirin

Simmer several minutes.

I looked through several of my umeboshi cookbooks and found some which are pickles like this one:

Cucumber and Umekatsuo Pickle (Kyuri no Umekatsuo Zuke)

150 gram cucumber (can use daikon, white radish, etc)

1 tsp salt

2 tsp soy sauce

3 tsp katsuobushi

3 umeboshi (remove pit and mince)

Slice cucumbers (not too thin) and sprinkle salt. Let stand for 3 hours and wash off salt and drain well. Combine cucumber slices with soy sauce, katsuobushi, and ume. Pickle for one night.

[jean_genie]

Last year, soon after my arrival in Japan, I was given a huge jar of 'umeboshi' by one of the teachers at the school I teach at. This is homemade stuff (in a coffee jar), still in its pink pickling juice, shiso (I'm guessing the dark red leaves are shiso) and all. Well, I guess that means they haven't yet reached the stage of ume 'boshi', have they?

I wasn't told how to use or prepare them - I suppose the teacher assumed I knew what to do with them since I'd expressed that I loved pickled plums (I was referring to the Chinese types which are dried, milder and somewhat sweeter). I haven't actually used them in any way other than taking them out of the jar, removing the seeds, washing in water (it's too mouth-puckering otherwise) and then popping them in my mouth. I'm down to half a jar and I'm glad I have found this wonderful thread full of suggestions on how to use the remaining.

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?

Many thanks in advance! Hm, I wish I'd found this thread before going through half of the pickling ume given to me!

[Hiroyuki]

Last year, soon after my arrival in Japan, I was given a huge jar of 'umeboshi' by one of the teachers at the school I teach at. This is homemade stuff (in a coffee jar), still in its pink pickling juice, shiso (I'm guessing the dark red leaves are shiso) and all. Well, I guess that means they haven't yet reached the stage of ume 'boshi', have they?

I wasn't told how to use or prepare them - I suppose the teacher assumed I knew what to do with them since I'd expressed that I loved pickled plums (I was referring to the Chinese types which are dried, milder and somewhat sweeter). I haven't actually used them in any way other than taking them out of the jar, removing the seeds, washing in water (it's too mouth-puckering otherwise) and then popping them in my mouth. I'm down to half a jar and I'm glad I have found this wonderful thread full of suggestions on how to use the remaining.

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?

Many thanks in advance! Hm, I wish I'd found this thread before going through half of the pickling ume given to me!

←

Hi, jean_genie. How do you like your life in the country?

I can't be of much help with your questions, as my mother is the one who makes umeboshi. (Where's Helen, by the way?)

The easiest and surest way to get answers is to ask the teacher who gave them to you, right? Just in case you can't, here are some links in Japanese.

http://www.geocities.jp/yamapon65/tisantisyou_umebosi.html

http://www.ajiwai.com/otoko/make/umeb_fr.htm

This one says that you can use the liquid to make beni shoga (red pickled ginger).

http://www.tukeru.com/tukemono/recipe_50009.htm

This one provides a video showing how to make umeboshi.

(Click the rectangle below 動画でCHECK!! ....)

All I can say is that the time is not quite right for umeboshi drying, because this is usually done in late July to eary August (after the rainy season is over), for three days.

I hope you can find a Japanese friend who can help you with your questions.

[jean_genie]

Doomo arigatou Hiroyuki san! To tell you the truth, it didn't occur to me to ask the teacher who gave it to me because I thought what I was doing (eating it out of the jar) was the norm. I didn't know you had to dry them until a few weeks ago, I watched the ume pickling process on the nightly cooking show on NHK (I don't understand much of what is said, but food is universal, right?). I could ask the teacher, unfortunately my Japanese is fledgling at best, and he doesn't know any English.. The English teachers I teach with have never made umeboshi before, and I feel too shy to waste the teachers' time by playing the translation game..

Thanks for the websites Last night after posting my query on this thread, I began a little experiment where I've put a few pickled ume in the fridge to dry (since it is quite a drying environment in there).. I wonder if it will work. I'm also gonna make some umebishio based on shinju's recipe (I'm soaking the pickled ume first for a couple of days to remove the pickling juice)... I'm determined to make use of all the pickled ume before I move in three weeks' time.

How do you like your life in the country?

Oh, and I'm loving Japan! I love the food, the culture and the awesome matsuri in inaka Japan. I'm glad that I got to experience rural Japan this past year, and that soon I will have the opportunity to live in one of the biggest cities in the world (although I am a bit apprehensive about the move)

[shinju]

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.