Photo: Kakidai, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Other · From Bladwijzer
Umeboshi (salted Japanese apricots)
- Makes: ± 750 g
- Time: 1 hr + 4 weeks salting + 3 days drying
- From: Japanese apricot
Ingredients
- 1 kg ripe, yellow, unblemished Japanese apricots
- 180 g coarse sea salt (18 % of the weight of the fruit)
- 2 tablespoons vodka or another strong spirit (at least 35 %)
- a 2 litre glass or stoneware jar, a plate that fits inside and a weight of about 1 kg (such as a sturdy freezer bag filled with water)
Method
- Leave any fruits that are still greenish-yellow to ripen for a day or two at room temperature, until they are yellow and fragrant. Rinse them, pat them dry and flick out the stalk end with a cocktail stick.
- Roll the fruits in a bowl with the spirit: this disinfects the skin. Also scald the jar with boiling water, then rinse it with a splash of spirit.
- Scatter a layer of salt over the bottom of the jar and layer the fruits on top, with some salt between each layer; keep most of the salt for the top layer.
- Put the plate on the fruits and the weight on top. Cover the jar with a clean cloth and keep it in a cool, dark place.
- After 2 to 5 days the fruits are completely covered by their own salty juice. Then remove half the weight and leave for 3 to 4 weeks. Check regularly: if you see mould, throw everything away.
- Wait for three sunny, dry days in July or August. Lay the fruits side by side on a rack or a mat in full sun and turn them once a day; bring them in at night. After three days the skin is wrinkled and dry and the flesh still soft.
- Put them in a clean glass jar and close it. Strain the salty juice (umezu) through a fine sieve into a clean bottle.
Storing: In a sealed glass jar in a cool, dark place: years. After a few months they mellow. Eat one with a bowl of rice or in a rice ball (onigiri), eating around the stone. A few drops of umezu give a salty-sour note to a dressing.