What is the Ume Syrup?
We cannot welcome the Japanese summer without this syrup made of Ume fruits, Japanese plums.
I am pretty sure that all Japanese kitchen lovers do making this fruity and sweet flavored drink at home at the beginning of every summer.
You might have heard Umeshu (梅酒 / Japanese plum wine) or Umeboshi (梅干し / Soured plums) that made of the same fruits as the Ume syrup (梅シロップ).
The begging of summer – May to June is the perfect season to pick up ume plums. In a Tokyo supermarket, you can find boxes of ume lined up in a vegetable section.
In the outside of Japan, it’s worth visiting your local farmer’s market to find them.
Every summer I make this easy ume syrup at home – it would take a couple of weeks to complete the fermentation. Raw ume plums are absolutely tart and hard to bite but with massive sugars, apple vinegar, and aging, they turn out juicy and fresh syrups.
A meanwhile, it’s also fun to observe how the chunk of sugar melts and everything comes together. I highly recommend cooking this recipe with your child to accomplish a piece of Shokuiku – food education as childhood.
And as a container please prepare a glass kitchen storage (canister or jar) that you can seal completely. Because you keep it at room temperature for a couple of weeks, it is very important to be air-tight to prevent germs comes into the jar.
How to Enjoy the Ume Syrup
Coming soon!
Ume Coke Float
Ume Jelly
Let’s Cook!
Ingredients
- 1KG (2.2LB) of ume fruits
- 1KG (2.2LB) of white rock sugar (you can reduce up to 700G if you like less-sweetened)
- 1L (33oz) of apple vinegar
Also you should put boiling water to sanitize – so I recommend a jar made of glass.
Instruction
- Wash ume plums well and remove stems
- Put the plums and sugars into a sanitized jar layer by layer
- Pour apple vinegar
- Close the jar completely and rest it in a cool and dark place at least for 2 weeks
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