Around this season the grocery stores start stocking fresh plums. These are not plums like we get in the US. They are hard, very sour and generally inedible. They can be made into a variety of delicous things, though, given time and creativity. This year, we decided to experiment by making our own homemade umeshu. Umeshu is plum wine. In fact, you can probably find the same kind of plum wine we are making in your grocery store. Well, maybe. Its the one that comes in a large cylindrical bottle with the plums floating in the bottom. I believe the brand in the US is called Choyu. Something like that. It turns out plum wine is not at all hard to make, you just have to let it sit for a long time.
So how do you make it? First, you let the plums soak in water for an hour or two. This apparently mellows them a bit and takes away any bitterness. Once they are soaked, you pop out the little stems with a fork, dry the plums thoroughly, put them in a sterilized glass jar with rock sugar and white alcohol (all of which can be found on an endcap of an aisle in the supermarket) and you leave it to brew in a cool, dark place. We read that it is important to leave space at the top since a lot of liquid will come out of the plums. We did leave some room, but hopefully it will be enough... I would have liked to have left a bit more room if possible. Keep your fingers crossed!
So how long before we can try our creation? At least 6 months before its ready and it is apparently best to wait one or two years. Since the process was so easy, I want to make two more jars so we can try one at each time marker. We are also considering adding a bunch of fresh ginger to one round as an experiment. Seems like a good idea to me. If anyone comes to visit after New Years we'll have to dip into our little experiment and see how its doing.
Around this season the grocery stores start stocking fresh plums. These are not plums like we get in the US. They are hard, very sour and generally inedible. They can be made into a variety of delicous things, though, given time and creativity. This year, we decided to experiment by making our own homemade umeshu. Umeshu is plum wine. In fact, you can probably find the same kind of plum wine we are making in your grocery store. Well, maybe. Its the one that comes in a large cylindrical bottle with the plums floating in the bottom. I believe the brand in the US is called Choyu. Something like that. It turns out plum wine is not at all hard to make, you just have to let it sit for a long time. 
So how do you make it? First, you let the plums soak in water for an hour or two. This apparently mellows them a bit and takes away any bitterness. Once they are soaked, you pop out the little stems with a fork, dry the plums thoroughly, put them in a sterilized glass jar with rock sugar and white alcohol (all of which can be found on an endcap of an aisle in the supermarket) and you leave it to brew in a cool, dark place. We read that it is important to leave space at the top since a lot of liquid will come out of the plums. We did leave some room, but hopefully it will be enough... I would have liked to have left a bit more room if possible. Keep your fingers crossed!
So how long before we can try our creation? At least 6 months before its ready and it is apparently best to wait one or two years. Since the process was so easy, I want to make two more jars so we can try one at each time marker. We are also considering adding a bunch of fresh ginger to one round as an experiment. Seems like a good idea to me. If anyone comes to visit after New Years we'll have to dip into our little experiment and see how its doing.
No comments:
Post a Comment