Umeboshi

Umeboshi has its roots in a preservation practice brought to Japan from China over a millennium ago, where the ume fruit, a close cousin of the apricot, was first used in smoked and dried form for medicinal purposes before becoming the fermented food we know today. During the feudal era, samurai carried these salted plums in their travel rations, appreciating their nearly indefinite preservation and thirst-quenching properties. Japanese households have long perpetuated the domestic preparation of umeboshi according to an unchanging seasonal rhythm: spring harvesting, salting, then drying under the summer sun. This practice, passed down from mother to daughter for generations, embodied both family know-how and a dietary necessity in a country where winter preservation of harvests was long essential. Even today, some families continue this annual ritual with the same gestures as in the past.

• 1 kg green or slightly yellowed ume plums
• 180 g unrefined sea salt (approximately 18% of the plum weight)
• a few red shiso leaves (akajiso) for coloring
• Japanese white spirits (shochu) to disinfect the fruit
• a heavy weight (stone or equivalent) for pressing

1. Thoroughly wash the ume plums, remove the small stems, then soak them overnight in clear water to reduce their natural bitterness.
2. Dry each fruit and rub lightly with white spirits, then arrange them in layers in a stoneware container, alternating with sea salt.
3. Place a wooden board topped with a substantial weight on the plums to press them and gradually bring up their juice, called umezu.
4. Allow to ferment for several weeks away from light, monitoring the appearance of the salty liquid that should cover the fruit.
5. Add the red shiso leaves, previously salted and squeezed, which tint the plums and their juice with a characteristic ruby color.
6. During the hottest days of summer, spread the plums on bamboo racks and expose them to the sun for three days, turning them regularly—this is called doyoboshi.
7. Return the plums to their fermentation juice each evening, then repeat the drying until their skin wrinkles and their flesh becomes dense.
8. Store the dried umeboshi in a sealed container, where they will continue to mature and improve with time.

Umeboshi surprises with its frank acidity and pronounced saltiness, balanced by a fruity note that discreetly recalls the fresh plum. Its flesh, dense and slightly fibrous, wrinkles from drying while retaining a certain moist tenderness at the core. The scent of shiso, herbaceous and slightly peppery, mingles with the salty aroma to give this fermented fruit an aromatic intensity recognizable among all traditional Japanese preserves.