Umeboshi dried plums

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. umeboshi 梅干と伝説 Legends about dried plums .
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Dried salted plums (umeboshi)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: All summer
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation



umeboshi 梅干 dried pickled salty plums
salty pickled plums, pickled sour plum, pickled ume, salt-pickled and sun-dried plum
They are on the table almost every day.
One salted plum a day keeps the doctor away ...

From the tree Prunus mume Sieb., a type of Japanese apricot

ume hosu 梅干す（うめほす）drying ume plums
. . . hoshi ume 干梅（ほしうめ）

umezuke 梅漬（うめづけ） pickled ume plums
ume tsukeru 梅漬ける（うめつける）pickling ume plums
ume mushiro 梅筵（うめむしろ）straw mat to place the plums to dry in the sun

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quote
Pickled ume fruits. Ume is a species of fruit-bearing tree in the genus Prunus (Prunus mume Sieb.), which is often called a plum but is actually more closely related to the apricot. Umeboshi are a type of tsukemono, or traditional Japanese pickled food, and are very popular in Japan. In Japan, it is used in various dishes as side dishes with breakfast, rice balls for lunch, boiled and seasoned for dinner.

Umeboshi are traditionally made by harvesting ume fruit when they ripen around June and packing them in barrels with salt. A weight is placed on top and the fruit gradually exude juices, which accumulate at the bottom of the barrel. This salty, sour liquid is marketed as
umezu (梅酢; often translated as "ume vinegar"), although it is not a true vinegar.

Most modern umeboshi are made by using less salt and by pickling the ume in a seasoned liquid or vinegar. They are typically dyed red using purple perilla herbs (called akajiso), or flavoured with katsuobushi, kombu or even sweetened with honey. Because modern methods of preservation use less salt, they usually contain an artificial preservative to extend shelf life.

Umeboshi are usually round, and vary from unwrinkled to very wrinkled. They taste salty, and are extremely sour due to high citric acid content.

The town of Minabe, Wakayama, in particular, grows more ume and produces more umeboshi than any other town in all of Japan.

Umeboshi per 100g contains elements as follows

Calorie 33kcal
Protein 0.9g
Fat 0.2g
Carbohydrate 10.5g
Sodium 8700 mg
Potassium 440 mg
Manganese 0.23 mg
VitaminA 7μg
VitaminB1 0.02 mg
VitaminB2 0.01 mg
Cholesterol 0 mg
Dietary fiber 3.6g
salt 22.1g

Children's candy shops sometimes carry karikari ume カリカリ梅, or prepackaged, crunchy pickled ume.
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HEALTH
This Japanese style traditional pickle is considered good for digestion, prevention of nausea, and for systemic toxicity, including hangovers. Green ume extract is even used as a tonic in Japan. The citric acid is claimed to act as an antibacterial, help to increase saliva production and assist in the digestion of rice. Additionally, umeboshi is claimed to combat fatigue (historically given as part of a samurai's field ration) and protect against aging.
- - - 　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


Emperor Murakami cured his disease during the dysentery outbreak (947) with umeboshi and Konbu cha (tea made of powdered kelp). The Umeboshi must be pickled in a year of the monkey
Reference : Umeboshi


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They are most important on the "Hi no maru bento" 日の丸弁当 as the red dot on the white rice, an auspicious color combination.



They are also the most popular filling for onigiri rice balls.
It was often used by the samurai to combat battle fatigue. The standard Japanese folk remedy for colds and flus is boiled rice with dried plums.

genmai umeboshi nigiri 玄米梅干しにぎり with brown rice


Modern ume are pickled with less salt and instead a bit of honey, which keeps them large and juici and delicious.

dried plums with honey はちみつ入り梅干
hachimitsu-iri umeboshi
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when pickled with red perilla leaves, they take on the red color.
Other varieties are rather small and quite hard.


After Wakayama and Gunma, Nara is the third largest producer of this daily delicacy.


紀州の梅干　Umeboshi from Kishu, Wakayama
. WASHOKU
Umeboshi from Wakayama prefecture


. WASHOKU
Umeboshi from Nara prefecture


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- - - - - not KIGO, but related to umeboshi

bainiku 梅肉 fruit flesh of a pickled plum
neriume, neri-ume 練り梅 plum paste
It is sold in tubes or glass bins, but also made by the housewife herself.　It is used in dressings for variuos dishes. With hot water or a little shoshu shnaps it makes a good drink to prevent a cold in winter.
It can be flavored with katsuo bonito or flavors.
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bainiku soosu 梅肉ソース sauce with umeboshi
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Fruchtfleisch von Salzpflaumen


bainiku ekisu 梅肉エキス plum extract
also made from Western-type plums (puramu プラム）。


ko-umeboshi 小梅干し small dried apricots/plums
from Kanagawa prefecture


umeshu 梅酒 plum wine
It is drunk with ice and water in summer or with hot water in winter.
Many housewifes make a large protion for the family and use it as an apperitif.
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umeboshi chazuke 梅干茶づけ with nori
to put on cooked rice, eaten with green tea poored over the rice.
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Umeboshi with Echizen Kurage jellyfish



umeboshi tsubo 梅干し壺
traditional pot to pickle the plums




umeboshi-ire 梅干入れ small pots for the table
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Worldwide use


Salzpflaumen, getrocknete Salzpflaumen.
in Salz eingemachte Pflaume


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU and SENRYU



梅を干すしづかな庭になりてをり
ume o hosu shizuka na niwa ni narite ori

drying plums -
the garden becomes
all quiet

Takizawa Iyoji 瀧澤伊代次

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梅を干す女の顔ぞおそろしき
ume o hosu onna no kao zo osoroshiki

the face of a woman
drying plums ...
how ferocious

Kawasaki Tenkoo 川崎展宏 (1927 - )


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古郷や梅干婆々が梅の花
furusato ya umeboshi baba ga ume no hana

my home village--
a wrinkled old woman's
plum blossoms

Sakuo Nakamura detects another level of meaning: in Issa's home village, for every beautiful girl there is a wrinkled old woman.


梅干と皺くらべせんはつ時雨
umeboshi to shiwa kurabesen hatsu shigure

comparing my wrinkles
with the pickled plums . . .
first winter rain

"Pickled plum" (umeboshi) is an idiom denoting an old wrinkled woman.
Kobayashi Issa (1763 - 1828)
Tr. David Lanoue


ich vergleiche meine Falten
mit einer Salzpflaume ...
erster kalter Regen


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慇懃にすや梅干の壺一つ
ingin ni su ya umeboshi no tsubo hitotsu

how intimate -
just one large pot
for pickled plums

Ishii Rogetsu 石井露月


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Related words

. WASHOKU
Tsukemono 漬物　漬け物 Japanese Pickles


*** Plum blossoms (ume)

***** WASHOKU : INGREDIENTS

. umeboshi 梅干と伝説 Legends about dried plums .

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