Hello there!
Before we talk about part 3, I think it is important that we do a review of the things we did from the beginning of umeboshi-making process.
On June 22nd, fresh plums were available at Japanese farmers’ markets.
They got washed and cleaned that day.
And then they were salted, kept in a jar, and covered with a heavy lid.
On June 29th, red shiso leaves were added to give color to the umeboshi. Together, they got stored in a cool dark place for a month.
For part 3, it may seem easy that the plums only need to be sun dried for three days… This happened from August 15th to 17th. But there was a plot twist!
When we all left the house for my mother-in-law’s birthday, it suddenly got rainy. My husband drove fast in order to salvage the umeboshi. (It was a lot of hard work, right?)
Thank God it was not a heavy downpour… Or else, they would have lost all the flavors that took time to penetrate (June to August).
The lesson we can learn from this experience is that… In those three days of sun-drying, you must guard the plums with your dear life!
NOTES:
- If ever they get drizzled with rain water, just dry them with a kitchen paper and use an electric fan to make sure the water is all dried out.
- If ever they got soaked over a heavy downpour, you can try saving them by sanitizing the plums and shiso leaves with shochu (the alcohol you can drink) and then dipping them again with the same liquid they were soaked in for one month. So please take note that the salty-purple liquid MUST NOT be thrown away during the sun-drying process.
- We used a zaru as a container for drying the umeboshi. We call this a bilao in the Philippines– a flat round tray made of bamboo strips.
- Next time, we should be getting a zaru that comes with a built-in mesh cover to make sure no insect invades the precious red plums.
To my Japanese mother-in-law, and to all Japanese grandmothers out there who do this patiently ever year, salute!
Asian Santa
August 20, 2025
コメント