The Ume Project


October 13, 2011

The Ume Project: Umeboshi Finale

by Kayoko Akabori

PREFACE The Ume Project: Foraging The Ume Project: Pickling for Umeboshi The Ume Project: Umeshu (Plum Liqueur) The Ume Project: The Aka-Shiso Edition Since July, Yoko and I have been working on umeboshi (pickled plums) with Sylvan of Peko Peko, a Japanese catering company based in Oakland. From picking our own ume from a backyard […]

September 16, 2011

The Ume Project: The Aka-Shiso Edition

by Kayoko Akabori

This post is rather late, for which I apologize. Er, about a month late. SORRY! Where has all the time gone? How is it already mid-September? I look outside and the leaves are turning color. The light gives off a deeper glow. It is dark at 7:30pm. Sigh. San Francisco’s (non-existent) summer is officially over. […]

August 2, 2011

The Ume Project: Umeshu (Plum Liqueur)

by Kayoko Akabori

You may recall that both Yoko and Yamahomo have shown us how to make umeshu (plum liqueur) on Umamimart (here and here). The season for ume is super short, and people in Japan scramble for them at the supermarkets to make their yearly batch of umeshu. After picking our own ume from a magical backyard […]

July 19, 2011

The Ume Project: Pickling for Umeboshi

by Kayoko Akabori

After our Berkeley backyard ume foraging adventure, Yoko, Sylvan (of Peko Peko) and I met up six days later to start pickling our umeboshi (pickled plum). Hooray! Umeboshi is the rice accompaniment of choice in Japan–the image of the sour little scarlet ball, sitting on a bed of steaming rice for breakfast, is as ubiquitous […]

July 6, 2011

The Ume Project: Foraging

by Kayoko Akabori

Yoko and I tagged along with Sylvan of Peko Peko last week to forage for ume (Japanese plums aka Prunus mume). We had been planning this for weeks, going back and forth and patiently waiting for the perfect moment to pick the ume, from a tree in the backyard of Sylvan’s friend’s home. Yes, we […]