Here's the last bottle of my home-made ume syrup. I'm sure it will be empty in a few days.
自家製梅シロップの最後のボトルです。数日でなくなると思います。
All my family love it!
家族みんな大好きです。
The home-made ume jam is not liked as much as the ume syrup, partly because of its slight bitterness. We still have four 1,800 ml Tupperware containers.
I have decided to consume it on a daily basis, one spoonful a day. This will surely keep me healthy!
毎日、一日スプーン一杯食べることにしました。それで健康でいられるはずです！
I am always impressed with the 4 season countries like Japan where you guys could make so many types of wines, juices and pickled delicacies from the many types of healthy fruits available. I realised that my country here has hot climate all year round and we cannot even grow grapes! LOL
ReplyDeleteI remember eating this Ume fruit once in Fukuoka. Nice!
Twilight Man: Well, the green is always greener on the other side!
ReplyDeleteThere are just a lot of Japanese, including me, who dream of living in a tropical country!
Please visit my country and be my guest at my home. You might need to fan to cool down all day. LOL
ReplyDeleteDear Hiroyuki,
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like the ume jam was very successful. You will have to make it again next year!
Take care,
Erin from California
ErinBear: Yes, it was successful, although it's slightly bitter because it was made from ao (lit. blue, unripe) ume. I don't think that the inclusion of seeds is responsible for the bitterness, because the ume jam that I made from ripe ume was not bitter at all even though it contained seeds.
ReplyDelete1 kg (2.2 pounds) of ume was reduced to about 0.5 kg at the time I separated the ume syrup from the ume, and I added 20% sugar to the ume, so I suppose that the ume jam contains about 40% sugar. No wonder it doesn't show any signs of spoilage even though I simply keep it in the fridge, with no sterilization first.
Dear Hiroyuki,
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if this is useful information, but where I live, people make jam, and they freeze it in smaller containers. Then you can take it out and put it in the refrigerator to use it later in the year. It will keep longer that way. You don't have to worry as much about sterilization, and you can also use lower sugar if you want. You can buy pectin made for lower-sugar (freezer) jam. It's a much easier process to make freezer jam, and it leaves the fruit tasting more fresh. Many of my friends prefer it. Maybe everyone makes the same types of jam in Japan.
I made jam in the past with the full canning process, and I enjoyed it. We had many apricot trees at our house when I was a girl, so I made apricot jam when I was a teenager. I also made plum jam from friends who had too many plums on their trees!
Take care,
Erin from California
ErinBear: Thank you for your comments, and it is useful information! I like to freeze different types of food, but for some reason, it didn't occur to me that I could freeze jam!
ReplyDeleteHi Hiroyuki! I can confirm with Erin that you can freeze jam quite successfully. I really enjoy jam making when berries are in season - this past spring and summer, I've made strawberry, strawberry-raspberry, and blueberry jam. I've frozen all of it, as I'm still a little hesitant to try canning jam - by freezing it, I know that the jam will be fine for months to come. I'd love to make ume jam someday!
ReplyDeleteAmy: Thank you for your confirmation!
ReplyDeleteI hope you can find fresh ume where you live, but be cautious! Ume are extremely sour even when ripe!