KitchenNippon

【Ingredients for 100g of fresh plums】

Fresh ripe plums (完熟梅 / Kanjuku ume) 100g
(Ripeness indicated by yellow color)
Miso (味噌 / Miso) 100g
Cane sugar (きびSugar (砂糖 / Satōh) / Kibizatōh) 50g

＜How to Make＞
① Use a mixing bowl large enough to hold a generous amount of water and the plums. Fill the bowl with water, add the plums and rinse them gently under running water. Be careful not to damage them. Drain the water off and use a paper towel to dry the plums. Use a bamboo skewer or toothpick to remove the little round bit of material (narikuchi [なり口]) where the stem was attached.
② Combine the miso and sugar, and mix well. Create a layer of miso on the bottom of a big-mouth jar or a large resealable plastic bag. Add a layer of plums, follow with more miso, then more plums, and so on, finishing with a layer of miso.
③ Place the jar or bag into a refrigerator. Your ume miso will be ready in about 1 month. You may notice that a fair amount of water develops in the jar or bag. This is not a problem; just mix it into the miso. If you would like your miso to have a stronger plum aroma, take the plums out of the miso, remove and discard the seeds, then place the plums together with the miso into a blender or food processor and chop/mix to your desired consistency. You can also take the plums out of the miso and eat them as pickles.

Recipe Developed by: Machiko Tateno

Plums are from Wakayama.