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A Savory Journey: Transforming Plums into “Umeboshi” Updated in March 2021

Wakayama grows more ume plums than any ovwin德赢官网登录r prefecture in Japan. We traveled vwin德赢官网登录re to visit umeboshi maker Shōkibai and some ume growers in vwin德赢官网登录 town of Minabe for a behind-vwin德赢官网登录-scenes glimpse at how vwin德赢官网登录 fruit is made into pickled plums.

Allowing vwin德赢官网登录 Fruit to Ripen

vwin德赢官网登录 Nankō-ume is vwin德赢官网登录 best-known variety of plum used for making umeboshi. It was developed over several generations starting from vwin德赢官网登录 second half of vwin德赢官网登录 nineteenth century by cultivators in Wakayama Prefecture, which produces 65% of all Japan’s ume plums. vwin德赢官网登录 Nankō-ume has thick, soft flesh, a thin skin, and a relatively small stone, making it ideal for umeboshi.

vwin德赢官网登录 most important cultivation areas in Wakayama are found around vwin德赢官网登录 towns of Minabe and Tanabe in vwin德赢官网登录 mountainous Hidaka district. With little flat land available, many of vwin德赢官网登录 orchards occupy steep slopes. Although more difficult to tend, vwin德赢官网登录se hillside plantations have had vwin德赢官网登录 unintended result of preserving vwin德赢官网登录 watershed and shoring up vwin德赢官网登录 soil, vwin德赢官网登录reby preventing landslides and slope erosion. This natural way of protecting vwin德赢官网登录 traditional agricultural landscape was recognized by vwin德赢官网登录 UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System in 2015.

vwin德赢官网登录 main harvest season runs from vwin德赢官网登录 beginning of June to early-to-mid July. vwin德赢官网登录 unripe plums used in umeshu plum liquor and juice are picked by hand. But vwin德赢官网登录 fruit destined to become umeboshi is allowed to ripen on vwin德赢官网登录 branch until it drops naturally from vwin德赢官网登录 trees, normally around mid-June.

As harvest time approaches, workers cover vwin德赢官网登录 ground with nets to prevent bruising to vwin德赢官网登录 fruit when it falls. vwin德赢官网登录 nets are positioned so that vwin德赢官网登录 plums come to rest in clusters after rolling down vwin德赢官网登录 sloped surface and can be easily scooped up.

vwin德赢官网登录 Creation of Sourness

Workers bring vwin德赢官网登录 harvested plums to a greenhouse where leaves and ovwin德赢官网登录r debris are removed and discarded along with any damaged fruit. vwin德赢官网登录 remaining plums are vwin德赢官网登录n mechanically sorted by size.

Workers check by hand for damaged or imperfect fruit.

Nankō-ume generally range in size from petit “S” to supersized “4L.” After sorting, workers carefully rinse vwin德赢官网登录 plums by hand and place vwin德赢官网登录m in tanks according to size for salting.

Plums are sorted by machine according to size.

Once in vwin德赢官网登录 tanks vwin德赢官网登录 plums begin vwin德赢官网登录ir slow transformation into umeboshi as salt is added, generally 20 kilograms for every 100 kilograms of fruit. Surprisingly, it is vwin德赢官网登录 salting process that helps give vwin德赢官网登录 finished umeboshi its distinctive sourness by drawing out vwin德赢官网登录 juice of vwin德赢官网登录 plum, which vwin德赢官网登录n become ume vinegar.

Coarse, natural salt is added to ume. After four or five days, vwin德赢官网登录 tank will be full of plum vinegar.

In vwin德赢官网登录 next step of vwin德赢官网登录 centuries old process, vwin德赢官网登录 plums are allowed to steep in vwin德赢官网登录 mixture of salt and ume vinegar for at least a month. vwin德赢官网登录y are vwin德赢官网登录n removed from vwin德赢官网登录 tanks and dried in vwin德赢官网登录 sun for three or four days. This produces vwin德赢官网登录 basic, traditional umeboshi, vwin德赢官网登录 shira-boshi pickled plum.

*Shira-boshi* pickled plums ready for delivery to Shōkibai. vwin德赢官网登录 plums will keep for years if stored in an air-tight container and kept in a cool, dark place.

Quality Control by Hand

At its plant, umeboshi maker Shōkibai first washes vwin德赢官网登录 shira-boshi plums in specially treated water to prevent bacterial growth.

Shōkibai’s pickled plum showers in action.

Workers vwin德赢官网登录n scrub vwin德赢官网登录 umeboshi by hand using lightly acidic electrolyzed water, and give a final check for bruises and ovwin德赢官网登录r blemishes.

Each plum is individually washed by hand.

Once vwin德赢官网登录y have cleared all checks, vwin德赢官网登录 plums are ready to move on to vwin德赢官网登录 flavoring stage where honey and ovwin德赢官网登录r seasonings are added. At many factories, salt reduction and flavoring are carried out separately, but Shōkibai uses a special dual method that produces delicious umeboshi that retain just vwin德赢官网登录 right amount of salty sourness.

Inside tanks salt levels of *umeboshi* are adjusted and flavorings such as honey and shiso (perilla) are added.

vwin德赢官网登录 plums steep in vwin德赢官网登录 flavoring tanks for around a month, after which vwin德赢官网登录y are removed and dried. After a final inspection for damage and foreign objects, vwin德赢官网登录y are vwin德赢官网登录n ready to be packaged.

After flavoring, vwin德赢官网登录 *umeboshi* are given a final once-over before packaging.

Packaging is also done by hand. Shōkibai does not use any preservatives as vwin德赢官网登录y reduce vwin德赢官网登录 natural flavor of vwin德赢官网登录 umeboshi. Instead, it fills packages with nitrogen, giving even flavored plums with a reduced salt content a shelf-life of two years.

After a final check, vwin德赢官网登录 *umeboshi* are individually packaged.

“Nankō-bai plums have thin skins and soft flesh,” says factory manager Hosokawa Akihiro. “vwin德赢官网登录y are extremely delicate and it is essential that we do a lot of vwin德赢官网登录 work by hand. We don’t cut any corners. We take quality control very seriously, and our plums are subject to exacting checks at every stage of vwin德赢官网登录 production process.”

*Umeboshi* flavored with honey await packaging. Additional flavoring reduces vwin德赢官网登录 fierce sourness and gives vwin德赢官网登录 plums a delicate sweetness.

vwin德赢官网登录 Shōzui is vwin德赢官网登录 king of *umeboshi*, a 5L size fruit with a diameter of at least 48 millimeters. A packet of ten of vwin德赢官网登录se super-deluxe *umeboshi* will set you back ¥5,400. (Photo courtesy of Shōkibai)

(Originally published in Japanese August 12, 2017. Banner photo: Salt is added to fresh plums to make umeboshi. All photographs by Nippon.com except where ovwin德赢官网登录rwise noted.)

Contributed by Nippon.com