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Homemade Umeboshi (Japanese salty pickled plums) - now with troubleshooting notes. Update: I’ve revised this, possibly the most popular umeboshi recipe in English online, to include some key troubleshooting notes.
Originally published June 18, 2009. My mom has been making a batch of umeboshi every year since, and I’ve also added some more notes from her. My mother came for a visit this week, bringing along a pot of her homemade umeboshi. I asked her to tell me how she makes them; not only did she write it down for me, she even had pictures she’d taken of her attempts in the past couple of years! So, here is my mom’s version of how to make homemade umeboshi. My mother [my grandmother - maki] used to make umeboshi every year. Ingredients and equipment You only need 4 ingredients to make umeboshi: Ume plums, coarse sea salt, red shiso leaves and shochu or shouchuu, a type of distilled alcohol beverage that is available all over Japan and is quite inexpensive.
(Troubleshooting: The ume plums should look like firm, small unripe apricots. Preparing the ume plums. Steamed buns with roast pork filling (Steamed pork buns, or char siu bao, or chuuka manjuu, or nikuman. Being a world wanderer of sorts (I've lived in 4 countries and 20+ different homes since I was born), a lot of my eating and cooking is tinged with nostalgia and longing for things that I miss from places I've lived before.
I've posted several such recipes here, such as for New York style bagels, homemade pizza, and chocolate peanut butter cups. This is another such recipe, for Chinese-style steamed buns. I say Chinese-style, because the kind I yearn for is probably not very authentically Chinese like the ones Renee can enjoy in such variety in Singapore. It's the Japanese version of the Chinese steamed bun, called chuuka manjuu. In Japan the chuuka manjuu usually has a smooth top because the dough is gathered and pressed together around the filling on the bottom. The sweet bean paste filled ones usually have a little red dot on top.
On a side note, the best bao or pau I've ever had were from a tiny store on Pacific Avenue in San Francisco, on the edge of Chinatown. The dough: Homemade mayonnaise without tears (Basics. If there is one food that has defeated me over the years, it's mayonnaise.
For the longest time I couldn't figure out how to make a good mayonnaise. I read the instructions in numerous cookbooks. I watched the Good Eats episode about it. I tried using a food processor, a stick blender, whipping by hand. Every time, I'd end up with a mess - eggy globs floating in a sea of oil, sort of like a Chinese eggdrop soup. Why would I even bother to make mayonnaise? But finally and completely by accident, I discovered how to make mayonnaise that is creamy, eggy, and smooth without fail. So if you have had mayonnaise problems too, read on.... Technorati Tags: mayo, mayonnaise The ingredients You will need: