Umeboshi with California Wild Plums
Umeboshi with California Wild Plums
Ingredients
- 1 pound wild plums (about the size of cherries or slightly larger and still firm)
- 2 cups vodka or other distilled alcohol, for rinsing plums
- 1.6 ounces red shiso leaves
- 1.6 ounces coarse sea salt or Kosher salt
Instructions
- Remove stems and wash plums in water twice then soak in a bowl of cold water overnight.
- Drain plums, dunk in a bowl of vodka, and set out on a clean towel to dry.
- Wash shiso leaves, remove tough stems, sprinkle with salt and massage leaves until they are limp.
- Disinfect a container or jar with vodka that can hold all your plums.
- Fill your pickling container with salt and plums by starting with a layer of salt, then a layer of plums, followed by a layer of shiso.
- Repeat until all ingredients are used.
- Weigh down plums with a clean plastic bag filled with water or another clean smaller jar filled with rocks and water. Cover the top with cheesecloth and secure with a rubber band.
- Leave plums in a cool, dark area until they are soft and completely immersed in liquid (about 1-2 weeks).
- If liquid is not completely covering plums, try increasing the weight.
- Liquid should be about 1 inch above the top of the plums.
- Leave the plums in the liquid about 2-3 weeks.
- To dry, put the plums in a single layer and the shiso leaves in spread-out clumps separately on flat baskets.
- Leave the baskets outside in a sunny place with good ventilation for about 3 days, turning them at least every 24 hours. At the end of the drying process, they should look wrinkly.
- The umeboshi is now ready to eat – they can be eaten for up to 10 years (!) and grow in complexity over time.
Notes
http://www.rootedfood.com/recipes/2015/8/24/umeboshi-with-california-wild-plums