Ume jam

One more thing to do with ume (Japanese apricot): make jam.

 

This is it on toast (that's my usual peanut butter and banana toast on the left). No, I didn't make it--a student of mine did, with fruit from her own ume trees. It is deliciously sweet and sour with a lovely ume fragrance, and I don't think it's going to last very long. It is great plain on toast and I have a feeling it will also make a good sauce. Thanks Mrs. A!

She used ao-ume(green ume) for her jam but most recipes call for ripe yellow ume. And since there are still yellow ume left in the stores I might just have to make a batch for myself. If you'd like to give it a try as well, Obachan has some basic ume jam instructions in English here, and these two recipes, although in Japanese, have enough pictures to make them understandable.

The basic process is the same as any other jam, but before you begin you'll need to detoxify the ume: soak the fruit in salt water overnight (or a few hours if you're using yellow ume) and then boil in water, removing the scum that will form, drain, and repeat the boiling twice. The soaking and boiling is not necessary when using fruit leftover from making umeshu (ume liqueur). The pits can be removed after the boiling (the fruit will still be firm so you'll need to cut them out with a knife), or midway through the jam making process when the fruit will be soft enough to crush with a potato masher. The crushed fruit can then be pureed for a smooth jam, or left as-is for a chunky jam.

If I don't get around to making jam with fresh ume this season at least I know just what I'll be doing with the ume leftover from my umeshu next year.

Comments

[laurel]

Hi Amy, I made ume jam last week. I really recommend it. It was super easy since you don't have to add pectin to the mix or anything. If you boil if for a really long time it will turn from green to orange. A 1 kg bag of ume made a lunch of jam, so I think I will be set with ume jam for a while.

[Amy]

Thanks Laurel! I took your advice and made my own ume jam and it turned out great. Wonder why it's not more popular?