Downton Abbey in Japan: Former Shigeru Yoshida Residence in Oiso Joyama Park 旧吉田茂邸

This week and next let’s stay closer to Oiso Beach. The beach of Oiso Town starts from the mouth of Hanamizu River 花水川 and ends in front of Oiso Golf Course. From Hanamizu River to Oiso Fishing Port 大磯漁港, it is the oldest Japanese bathing resort for commoners. From the Port to the Golf Course, it is a beach not suitable for swimming (due to the current and seabed geography), but popular for weekend anglers. Along the entire shore, there runs Seisho By-pass Highway 西湘バイパス to the City of Odawara 小田原市. Beside the Seisho By-pass, on June 26, 2020 Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism opened Oiso’s portion for the Pacific Cycling Road 太平洋岸自転車道. So, now we can walk/bike along the motorway in Oiso. Actually, the forests we go locate in a continuous row at the side of Pacific Cycling Road. They are Oiso Joyama Park 神奈川県立大磯城山公園 and National Meiji Memorial Garden of Oiso 明治記念大磯邸園.

Seisho By-pass Highway near Oiso-nishi IC 大磯西IC,
 Oiso Prince Hotel.

Oiso’s Pacific Cycling Road.
 Oh, important info.
 The area is VERY popular for joggers, marathon runners, and cyclists.
 I’ve not been there since last March,
 but if Niiharu Forest’s 新治市民の森 soaring popularity
 due to the COVID-19 lockdown is for any indication,
 I would tell you this:
 Cyclic Road in Oiso with refreshing see breeze
 could become even more congested.

So, in terms of access, visiting today’s place is not difficult. First, we can drive and park the car in one of the ample parking spaces of the parks (with parking fees, er, not cheap, FYI). Or, if you prefer on foot, please start from JR Oiso Station, and take one of these 3 routes. Route A: go to Oiso Fishing Port by crossing Route #1, and then enter Pacific Cycling Road. … Oh, yes, the Port also have a large parking space. Also, in Terugasaki Municipal Swimming Pool right next to the Oiso Fishing Port, there is a municipal office providing free bike rental service, called Port House Terugasaki ポートハウスてるがさき. Business Hours 9:00-16:00 except December 29-January 3; max bike rental hours = 4 hours; please bring your photo ID and fill-in an on-site form. The available bikes are 6, which are for “first-come, first-served” base. (Good Luck!) Route B: without going the Port, walk along Route #1 to the direction of Odawara which is an itinerary passing the front gates of the Parks. Route C: take Kanachu Bus services (many, I tell you; time tables are here) from Oiso Station and get off at Joyama Koen-mae 城山公園前 bus stop, and return the Station on foot by and by. The last method may be the least demanding to visit these places. In this post, I start from Oiso Joyama Park, then visit (or poke in) National Meiji Memorial Garden of Oiso, and return to Oiso Station.

The parking for Former Shigeru Yoshida Residence
 in Oiso Joyama Park.

Oiso Joyama Park 大磯城山公園 is made of two parts. One is the beachside forest called Former Shigeru Yoshida Residence 旧吉田茂邸, and another is on Joyama hill, which is on the other side crossing Route #1 from the beachside. The area near the sea was a former residence of Shigeru Yoshida, the 45^th and 48^th-51^st Prime Minister of Japan. He is a grandfather of Taro Aso, the 92^nd PM and the current Deputy PM cum Minister of Finance, and of Princess Nobuko, the wife of Prince Mikasano-miya (a cousin of Emperor Heisei). Yoshida lived here even during his tenure as the PM, and commuted by car to the PM Office next to the Imperial Palace. Yoshida inherited the estate from his (step)father, a wealthy merchant of Yokohama when he was still a grade schooler, did whatever he wanted with the place, and died here in 1967. PM Yoshida invited PM Konrad Adenauer of the West Germany to his Oiso residence. Here, he entertained Crown Prince Akihito (Emperor Heisei) and Crown Princess Michiko (Empress Michiko) when they were newly-weds. The biggest achievement of PM Yoshida was the restoration of state independency in 1952 by San Francisco Peace Treaty. He was proud of it. He brought a couple of cairn terriers from his state business trip to San Francisco. Their name was “San” and “Fran.” Later the doggie couple had a cute puppy. Yoshida named it “Cisco.” All three were buried here.

Shigeru Yoshida.
 This statue stood at the nearest spot
 to the sea in Yoshida Residence.
 He’s facing San Francisco,
 somewhere over there …

The grave of “San” in Yoshida Residence

Inevitably, the place carries the history of Japanese Post World War II period. The area is made of the house Yoshida lived and his forest which is rather too large to be called a “garden.” Each room of the house has their story. So does the design of the garden. The reason why this place is now a prefectural park is a part of history for the nation and for Yoshida Family, which would be of Downton Abbey. (I mean, about power, money and love, Wooooow.) Anyway, talking about their detail is not for this blog, so I skip it. The point I have to tell you is this: the entire Yoshida Residence is a jumble of styles Yoshida fancied during his 89 years’ life. And so for his “garden.” Shigeru was an adopted son from a poor but politically active family in Kochi Prefecture 高知県. He maintained the connection with his biological family and introduced many vegetations from Kochi that is definitely warmer than Kanagawa. After graduating from University of Tokyo, he became a diplomat and stationed in China, Korea, and Europe during the early 20^th century. He brought home his impression of scenery from each of his assignments. They transformed the house of his father’s garden in the original vegetation for Oiso’s soil in whatever way to be a part of Shigeru’s world. The result was a towering Phoenix canariensis right next to large traditional Japanese ponds adorned by plum and cherry blossoms, and a bamboo forest. The palm tree is to commemorate his achievement in California where lots of palm were lined for boulevards. Traditional ponds were specially designed to welcome Crown Prince and Princess, and the bamboos were from the village of his birth family.

The Yoshida Residence early spring, 2020.
 The hill (a part of Yoshida estate) behind the house
 maintains the original vegetation of the place.
 The ponds in front of us was redesigned
 to welcome Crown Prince and Princess.
 It smells marvelous when plum blossoms are in full-bloom,
 like in this photo …

The very important palm trees,
 for Yoshida, and in Japanese history.

The bamboos Yoshida brought from his birth-town in Kochi.

The design of each room, and the entire house
 are a sort of amalgam of architectural styles
 starting from Japanese classic to Western modern.
 But there is one unified concept for sure:
 from every room Yoshida used,
 he could admire beautiful Mt. Fuji.

Yoshida Residence was once famous for its beautiful forest of black pine (Pinus thunbergii). Yoshida himself confessed he loved to admire his “garden” of pines. Unfortunately, they were almost annihilated by pine wilt disease brought in by Americans after 1945. Hmmmmmm … it’s very symbolic … The pine trees loved by Japanese PM who negotiated with Americans to restore independence after the defeat of the war was exterminated by germs brought by Americans … Anyway, after the infection, Kanagawa Prefecture treated the area and replanted the young, disease-tolerant black pines which is the main black pine trees these days for Yoshida Residence. The place has a strolling route for the young forest. Not many tourists enter there. I like its quiet atmosphere with sound of the sea. Maybe PM felt the same way with his older pines …

Young forest of pines.

The parking for Yoshida Residence was a part of rose garden as the PM was the president of the Japan Rose Society. (He was proud of his “English” accent.) Now the rose garden itself was less than 1/4 of its former size, as the space was modified in 1979 for President Jimmy Carter and the PM Masayoshi Ohira to have a meeting at Yoshida Residence. Before the larger rose garden, the area was on a border for 3 summer houses. One was for Yoshida family, another was of Mitsui Family whose main area we visit next week, and the third was for Tsunatsune Hashimoto 橋本綱常, the first general director of Japan Red Cross Hospitals and the court physician for Crown Prince Yoshihito (Emperor Taisho, the great grandfather of the current Emperor). When he was a schoolboy, the Crown Prince visited many times his physician’s place to play. Of course, the climate of Oiso was desirable for young prince. Yet, there was another reason why his father, Emperor Meiji, allowed his heir to stay in Oiso. In Yosida Residence, there is one architecture, called Shichiken Doh 七賢堂, which is to commemorate 7 politicians contributed to industrialization of Japan since Meiji Restoration of 1868. It was first built by Hirobumi Itoh, the first PM of modern Japan, in his summer house that was a neighbor for Yoshida Residence. In 1960, Yoshida moved it to his estate. In 1968 after his death, PM Eisaku Sato, the 61^st to 63^rd PM, added Yoshida to be commemorated in this structure together with the other 6 seniors already listed there. The existence of such structure tells the reason why this beach was the playground for the Crown Prince. Next weeks, we’ll visit the forests which have the connection with these Japanese modern historical biggies. Stay tuned. 😃

The remnant of rose garden

Shichiken Doh built in 1903 and moved here in 1960.

Oh, I have to tell you this. We have to pay the entrance fee to see the inside of Yoshida Residence, a part of Oiso Municipal Museum. BUUUT, enjoying the forest of PM Yoshida is free of charge. 😄 We can enter there between 9:00-16:30, Tue-Sun (except every 1^st day of month and December 29 – January 3). Next to the Yoshida Residence is Oiso Prince Hotel that will be a satellite Olympics Village for Sailing Competition in Tokyo 2020 Games. I imagine during the summer of 2021, Olympians may visit Yoshida Residence to have a little stroll. 😊

Oiso Town Hall　大磯町役場

183 Higashikoiso, Oiso-cho, Naka-gun, Kanagawa, 255-8555

〒255-8555 神奈川県中郡大磯町東小磯183

Phone: 0463-61-4100

Fax: 0463-61-1991

http://www.town.oiso.kanagawa.jp/isotabi/index.html

http://www.town.oiso.kanagawa.jp/oisomuseum/index.html

Beach front forests for celebrities: Visiting Oiso Town forests, introduction

Oiso Town

From this post I will tell you for several weeks the greenery of Oiso Town 大磯町, a municipality next to the Hiratsuka City 平塚市. I’ve been there early this year before COVID-19 dominates our conscience. Since then, there are some changes in Oiso due to the pandemic. I’m going to mention it, hoping the arrangement is only temporary. Anyway! The township faces to the Sagami Bay 相模湾 and has a unique meaning in Japanese history. Their forests show such feature. Part of them will be National Meiji Memorial Garden of Oiso 明治記念大磯邸園. It was planned to be partially open in July 2020. Now the inauguration is postponed. I’ll tell you more about it next week … Oiso Town is a nice place to live. Not for nothing Haruki Murakami 村上春樹 keeps his Japanese residence there. Yukio Mishima 三島由紀夫 was a party boy at Oiso Prince Hotel. There lived 8 Prime Ministers in the town. You may have an idea what kind of place, and forest, don’t you?

A morning in Oiso Fishing Harbor. 
They have a restaurant uber-popular,
 but no reservation accepted.
 Reason? They serve food of real fishermen!

First, geography. West of Kanagawa Prefecture was the epicenter for the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake. It is the point where the Philippine Plate sinks under the North American Plate, after carrying the seabed from the Pacific Ocean. The tectonic crush continuously pushes up the seabed, creating numerous active fault lines, hills and volcanos such as mountains of Izu Peninsula 伊豆半島, Hakone 箱根, and Mt. Fuji 富士山. Shinseiko Lake 震生湖 (my post on November 15, 2019) is on this fault line. From the area of Shinseiko Lake, a hill is created to the south by the tectonic crash. It is called Oiso Hill 大磯丘陵. The Hill is sandwiched by alluvial fans of the City of Odawara 小田原市 by Sakawa River 酒匂川, and the City of Hiratsuka by Sagami 相模川 and Hanamizu Rivers 花水川. Unlike these two relatively flat areas, south slope of Oiso Hill is steeply tumbling down to the Sagami Bay. The top soil, er roughly 20m or so deep, of the hill is volcanic ashes spewed from the ancient Mt. Hakone that does not exist anymore due to the volcanic collapses. Especially between about 400 thousand to 60 thousand years ago, the debris from the volcano covered the tectonically crumpled-up seabed of Oiso. So, Oiso Hill is one of the most geologically unstable places in Japan. We’ll go there next month. 😉

Oiso Hill seen from JR Oiso Station

Even though, people have lived Oiso area for millennia. Do you remember we’ve been there once for Mt. Takatori 鷹取山 (; my post on December 1, 2017)? The hiking course to Mt. Takatori has shrines worshiped for centuries by Tokugawa Shogunate and the other historical dignitaries. Especially, the beachside to the Pacific Ocean has a long sandy shore along the main road, aka Tokaido, connecting Kyoto and Kamakura, and later Edo (Tokyo). The scenery of long beach with sharply rising hill behind (sans present-day suburban houses), with Mt. Fuji over there, must have been beautiful. Surely, it appeared often in Japanese classic literature as a gorgeous place of moderate climate. Many poets wrote their impression of the vista while they were travelling. The oldest appears in Manyoshu poetry anthology 万葉集 that was compiled in the 8^th century. By the mid-19^th century, the Oiso beachfront became of celebrity. After Meiji Restoration of 1868, the governmental biggies who led industrialization of Japan competed in the area to build their holiday mansions with private beach. Meanwhile, in 1885 a beach in Oiso spared from the “privatization” became the first Japanese bathing-resort for commoners.

The ancient Tokaido, now National Route 1,
 was lined with pine trees when it runs along the seashore.
 In Oiso, such design is preserved,
 and we can feel how it was in, say, 200 years ago.

The Oiso Beach now.
 Surfers congregate all the year round including winter.
😄

When in 1945 Japan was defeated in the World War II, the GHQ of the Allied Forces ordered to dismantle the wealth of such stately homes. Since then, the owners of these real estates have been companies listed in the first section of Tokyo Stock Exchange. Now in the 21^st century, the corporations could not find success to use the places as restaurant, banquet houses, or learning centers for their employees. Not many C-types could maintain their Oiso residence consists of historical buildings of the celebrities 100 years ago. When the area of historical value started to show apparent neglect, ordinary people of Oiso, together with the concerned citizens for history and art, negotiated with the local and national governments to preserve the area. The result is the 2017 cabinet decision to create National Meiji Memorial Garden of Oiso 明治記念大磯邸園. The place was planned to be partially open in July 2020 ...

Seibu Group tried to use the front building
 of the mansion owned by
 the first Japanese modern PM, Hirobumi Ito 伊藤博文,
 as a Chinese restaurant.
 Their business apparently failed …

Next week, I start to tell you my adventure with those “forests” of ex-PMs in Oiso. I found their idea is like that of Lord of Hikone and Prince Fushimi-no-miya who were the owner of the forest now in Hotel New Ohtani of Tokyo (; my post on September 20, 2019). But theirs in Oiso are certainly of the age of industrialization, and with the sad memory of Korea-Japan relationship … Please stay tuned.

If you find environmental issues in Kanagawa Prefecture, please make a contact with Kanagawa Natural Environment Conservation Center 神奈川県自然環境保全センター

657 Nanasawa, Atsugi City, 243-0121

〒243－0121　厚木市七沢657
Phone: 046-248-0323 You can send an enquiry to them by clicking the bottom line of their homepage at http://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/div/1644/

Un Magnolia Pensant: Cooking Houba-zushi with fragrant leaves of Japanese Bigleaf Magnolia ホウバ寿司

Returning to the topic of wrapping foods with leaves (in my previous posts here, here, and here), there was one leaf I thought impossible for me to try. It was of Japanese Bigleaf Magnolia (Magnolia hypoleuca). Bigleaf Magnolia is a common species in large forests of Yokohama, like Niiharu Citizen Forest 新治市民の森. The wood of Magnolia hypoleuca is hard and resilient to water without much resin. Traditionally, Japanese have used it for heels of clogs, hilts of swords and cooking knives, and chopping boards. Actually for chefs of Japanese cuisine, chopping boards made of Bigleaf Magnolia is one of the bests. (Another recommended wood for professional chopping boards is ginkgo – Ginkgo biloba, and rose-gold pussy willow – Salix gracilistyla.) It seems to me using Bigleaf Magnolia for tools is becoming more and more difficult these days due to urbanization … Though, its leaves, called Houba in Japanese, are still used regularly for regional cuisine. Using leaves of magnolia does not require chopping the tree down, right?

One of Japanese Bigleaf Magnolias in Niiharu Citizen Forest

Japanese used Houba as dish for millennia. Houba leaves are not edible, but its chemical component is not poisonous but antiseptic with the scent of magnolia. In 1934 archeologists found Houba on a cup stored in the 6^th century Ouzuka Mound Tomb 王塚古墳, an ancient tomb of some nobles in northern Kyushu 九州. For one thing, the leaf is HUGE and so-so strong. It can be 40cm*20cm easily. It is not torn when we serve food on it. Another merit is its elegant but harmless scent. It’s magnolia so that the entire plant emits sweet soothing aroma. Using Houba for cooking is regional specialty in Gifu Prefecture 岐阜県. When you visit mountainous Takayama City 高山市, or Shirakawagoh Village 白川郷, a menu with Houba is regulars. Wrapping food with the leaf for a while, the smell of magnolia will be transferred to the meal. Or, when we heat miso-paste with chopped veggies on dried Houba over charcoal fire, the miso becomes dip source with gentle flavor. (Recipe is here.) Yep. We can find Bigleaf Magnolia without visiting Gifu. Dried Houba is available from Amazon, for about USD 7 (10 leaves, I tell you). Though, we have the trees (plural!) in Niiharu Citizen Forest 新治市民の森. Why should I pay $7 + shipping fee for that !? … The problem is, they are large trees. I cannot reach to the leaves some 20m above over there.

Another Bigleaf in Niiharu

I almost gave up cooking with Houba. Then, one weekend morning of this June, after continuous days of strong winds and rain, I hit lucky. In Ikebuchi Hiroba Open Space いけぶち広場 of Niiharu Citizen Forest, there is a large Japanese Bigleaf Magnolia, taller than wild cherry blossom trees (Cerasus jamasakura). The open space is the meeting-place for Niiharu Lovers before starting forestry activities. I’ve been there early on that particular morning, and found lots of Houba fell off from the high places. They lay around here and there, without blemish. Yeah, Houba is sturdy enough to be a receptacle for meals, but it cannot stand stamping by visitors, et al. Yet, in that morning, they were still intact. Bingo!

Bigleaf Magnolia in Ikebuchi Hiroba

I collected and brought them home. Washing them under running water, they smelled very sweet. I’ve used some of them to wrap home-made sushi and keep the rest in the freezer for my later treat (ho ho ho 😁). Wrapping sushi with Houba is called Houba-zushi, Gifu’s special treat in early summer. It seems to me each family in Gifu region has their own ingredients to put on sushi rice for Houba-zushi (: recipes here). i.e. no particular rule. I gathered food stored in my fridge, and made it like this:

Yayyyyy!!

Making sushi rice.
 It’s better using wooden bowel for mixing rice and vinegar,
 as the container can absorb moisture,
 which could help the rice cooling down swiftly.

First, we have to prepare sushi rice. It’s easy. Mix well 60cc of rice vinegar with 60g of sugar and 9/10 tbsp of salt. Cook 3 cups of rice in a standard way. Sprinkle the vinegar mixture over the hot cooked rice and mix well to let it cool. The point is, don’t make rice paste. You should use your spoon like cutting the mass of rice roughly. In this photo, I used Kurosu 黒酢, Japanese fermented rice vinegar which is black. My pantry did not have standard rice vinegar … Japanese black rice vinegar is made of rice only, different from Chinese version where another grains are also added. For sushi rice, I think Japanese version with simpler flavor would yield better result as we have to combine rice with the other also “simpler” ingredients as toppings.

One of the toppings I chose this time was egg. Here, I mixed well one egg with 1 tsp of sugar, then poured it over a flat plate wrapped by plastic. I microwaved it with 500w for 1 minute first. From here, the egg was microwaved little by little until its surface was done with slight moisture, like this photo. We can peel off the egg from the plastic, then julienne it as sushi topping.

This is Houba I used. This photo is for front side.

I positioned one handful of sushi rice on the back side of Houba, then put toppings on it. This time, my ingredients were julienned eggs, green beans boiled with salt (then chopped), julienned fresh Japanese ginger (Zingiber mioga), Chirimen-jako, and home-made Tsukudani from the remnants of Shiso leaves I used for Shiso Juice (my post last week). Recipe of Tsukudani is also easy. That 200g of red Shiso leaves after extracting juice was chopped and slightly stir-fried with sesame oil, then added 2 cups of water, 30g of Chirimen-jako, 2 to 2.5 tbsp of Soy sauce, and 2 tbsp of Mirin. Boil the mixture down with low heat until the liquid is almost evaporated. Any Tsukudani can be a nice topping for rice (sushi or otherwise), or filling for sandwiches. The sushi here is completed its topping with leaves of Japanese pepper (Zanthoxylum piperitum, my post on November 2^nd, 2018).

Finally, the entire sushi construction was wrapped by Houba and fastened by a toothpick. I left them overnight. It became tasty and fragrant lunch. 😋

In Niiharu, volunteers for rice paddies
 have completed transplanting rice seedlings
 before the middle of June.

Before, in Gifu Houba-zushi was for thank-you lunch to the neighbors who came to help transplanting rice seedlings to rice paddies. It was a heavy work that should have been done in a short 1-2 weeks window at the beginning of Japanese rainy season. Each community of farmers helped each other every year by planning planting schedule from one family’s paddies to the next. The return of hard work was yummy Houba-zushi. Rice transplanting season is also the season for fresh Houba falling from higher branches. I happened to meet with the very best timing to collect the leaves, just like the yesteryear farmers did for their traditional schedule. I don’t know why, but I was a bit moved by this fortune. And sushi was delicious!

If you find environmental issues in Kanagawa Prefecture, please make a contact with Kanagawa Natural Environment Conservation Center 神奈川県自然環境保全センター

657 Nanasawa, Atsugi City, 243-0121
〒243－0121　厚木市七沢657
Phone: 046-248-0323

You can send an enquiry to them by clicking the bottom line of their homepage at http://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/div/1644/

Season of Japanese Apricot 3: making Ume pickles … for combating pandemic?

Last year, I posted how to make sweet treats from Japanese apricot (Ume). (My posts are here for June 21, 2019, and here for June 28, 2019.) According to Wikipedia, Japanese apricot was first brought from China during the 6-7^th century. It was an ingredient for Chinese medicine. The citric acid of fresh Ume juice was used not only for disinfectant, but also for metal processing. Gold plating for the Great Buddha in Nara 奈良 was done with Ume acid (Woooow). Actually, for centuries, Japanese apricot is widely prepared for pickles, aka Umeboshi, much more than for sweets. For Japan, Ume pickles appeared in 984 for the first time in ancient document. It was in the oldest existing Japanese book of medicine, Ishinhoh 医心方, compiled by Tamba Yasuyori 丹波康頼. By that time, Umeboshi was widely known as healthy food among Japanese. It is said that the beginning was like this.

Very popular rice ball with Umeboshi.
 You can find it in whichever Convini Stores,
 Supermarkets, Department Stores, et al,
 in Japan.

In 960, endemics were prevalent in Japan. Emperor Murakami 村上天皇 was not well at that time. A hermit monk Kuhya 空也 sculpted a wooden statue of Ekadasa mukha (one apparition of Bodhisattva), put the figure on a rickshaw, and chanted the mantra for combating plagues while pulling the cart around in Kyoto. People came to pray with Kuhya for escaping the maladies. The monk then distributed cups of tea in which a piece of dried kelp and pickled Ume were steeped. Many people felt recovered after the ritual. The Emperor heard the news and came to Rokuharamitsuji Temple 六波羅蜜寺, the temple of Kuhya. The monk served Emperor Murakami the tea with dried kelp and pickled Ume. The Emperor got well after the visit. Since then, the healing power of Ume pickles has been really a common knowledge in Japan. The tea Kuhya served was named “Oofuku-cha Tea 大福茶 = extremely lucky tea,” which became the standard New Year’s drink to wish for healthy new year. Indeed, fruity and salty sourness of Umeboshi tastes delicious especially during hot and humid Japanese summer.

Oofuku-cha Tea.
 Use just a tiny bit of dried kelp for this
 as the seaweed can expand a lot.
 I made the tea with cold water.
 Pick up a tea bag for Gyokuro (MUST),
 seep the bag for 5+ minutes in cold water
 with dried kelp and Umeboshi,
 and it’s done.
 You have to use Gyokuro green tea for Oofuku-cha anyway.
 It’s a nice drink for severe Japanese summer …

When the fruit is prepared properly, Umeboshi can last for more than a century. In Nara Prefecture, a house for Naka Clan 中家, a samurai-cum-rich farmer family preserves Ume pickles considered to be made in 1576. Their house is now a municipal museum. I think we can visit there to see the oldest remaining Umeboshi … Without going to this extreme, pickled Ume can age gracefully. I once tasted Umeboshi made 30 years ago by now an octogenarian lady. It was DE-LI-CIOUS!!! In any case, to reach to such quality of pickles, we have to clear several technical levels that I’m learning now … I’m sorry I have not yet arrived the stage to show you how. So, in this post, I tell you the easiest, or introductory, version of making Ume pickles, without drying. The recommended “best by” date of this post’s recipe is one year after the making. Still, the instant-version of pickles are in high demand to fend off dehydration and decrease in appetite during summer. Don’t you think it is healthy food especially now when we have to boost our immunocompetence against vaccine-less COVID-19?

For this post, I tell you the way to use Ume pickle with small Japanese apricot. We can make Oofuku-cha with Ume pickle of small Japanese apricot. The recipe is replicable with standard sized Ume. But larger apricot cannot maintain their form after several month of pickling without drying process. In this introductory method, they become mushy paste just like Lebanese preserved lemons. Using them for cooking is one thing: they are handy to stir-fly meat, or to grill fishes. (For more than 1600 recipes, please go here.) But making Oofuku-cha with paste is something of … I don’t know. I’ve never done it. I guess the tea becomes salty soup, rather than tea …

<Making Ume pickle with small Japanese apricot>

First, find small Japanese apricot, wash them with running water, and remove the remnants of sepal attached to the fruit. In Tokyo area, small Japanese apricots are available during the second half of May.

Soak the fruit in water for at least 2-3 hours, max 24 hours, to remove harshness. Pat them dry, then coat the fruit lightly with drinkable alcohol with at least 35%. In Japan, we use the thing like in this photo.

Select unrefined salt. The minerals remaining in such salt bring the flavor and micronutrient typical for Ume pickle. For this recipe, the amount of salt is 15% of the weight of fruit. For 500g of Ume, it’s 75g. When we make a post-introductory version of Ume pickle to preserve them for more than one year, the ideal amount of salt is 18-20%. When we plan to consume the pickles within a year, this amount of salt is too much. I’m now in awe to know what such tiny 3% difference can make … Anyway, keep aside roughly 1/4 of the salt and use the rest for coating the fruit.

Swash inside of a pickling jar with 35%+ alcohol for sanitization. Then, put the salt-covered fruits in it. Over the fruit, pour the remaining salt.

Cover the surface of salt + fruit with a plastic wrap and put a weight on them. Ideally, it should be 2-3 times heavier than the fruit. But I don’t have large enough jar for this. So, my weight is about the same as the fruit, made by pie weights in a plastic bag. Lighter the weight, smaller the juice the salt-covered fruits yield during pickling. I found it can become problematic when we employ lighter weight for fully-fledged Ume pickle making. But today’s recipe is an introductory version. You don’t have to fuss over about it. Leave the jar in a dark corner of your house, and wait for about a month …

A month later, i.e. in the last week of June for smaller Japanese apricot, we can find red beefsteak plant (Perilla frutescens var. crispa, or aka-jiso 赤紫蘇 in Japanese) in nearby supermarkets. It is the sign we should start the second process for pickling Ume. We first pick the leaves from red perilla stem and wash them in running water. Drain the water from the leaves and weigh them.

Weigh unrefined salt for 20% weight of the leaves. The standard for 500g of Ume fruit, we add 100g of red perilla leaves. It means the amount of salt we need for this stage is 20g.To work on the leaves, it’s easier to handle 50g of leaves at one time. So, put half the 100g of leaves in a bowl, and add 10g of salt on them. This amount of salt is same for the leaves to post-introductory recipe for Ume pickles.

Massage the leaves with salt until they yield juice with bubbles. A bowl-full of leaves becomes such small amount. Squeeze them well to set aside, and do the same with the second batch.

Spread the salt-massaged red perilla leaves over the pickled fruit. When the fruit yield too much juice which can float the leaves, scoop them to set aside before putting the leaves. Use the juice to loosen the squeezed leaves and spread them together with the juice over the fruit. But if you don’t have such amount of juice, it’s OK. It takes a little bit more time for the pickle to be made. If you can harvest more than enough salty juice at this stage, you’re lucky. It’s salty white Ume vinegar. You can use it for cooking. Recipes can be found here.

Cover the surface of fruits and leaves with a plastic wrap. Put a weight on it, ideally for the same amount of the fruit. This time, I used a double-plastic bag filled with H2O. 500cc of it would be roughly 500g, right? Secure the mouth of the bag tightly, and

Put the lid on the jar and secure the opening with plastic wrap to shield the contents off. With this way, I’ve never had mold or else during pickling process. When such things happen, wipe or scoop the molds off gently from the jar, and spray the infected point with 35% alcohol for sanitization. Leave the jar for another month or so in a dark corner of the house. When Japanese monsoon season is over, it is time for Ume pickle to be ready for consumption.

The final product is like this, though it is the previous year’s pickles. Our household is almost used them up. We hope this year’s version will be ready by the time we ate them all.

For a full version of Umeboshi, there is the third process of drying. I’m still learning it. Conversation with sunshine to adjust drying is difficult, especially with precarious globally warming weather ... Please keep crossing your fingers for my learning to produce satisfactory process of Ume pickles. If you have unused aka-jiso leaves, you can make juice from them. Boil them for 2 minutes, strain the juice. A tip: it’s more efficient to wait until the leaves become cool before squeezing them. After cooling the liquid completely, add lemon juice (100cc for 200g of leaves), and honey (200cc for 200g of leaves). Mix them well and let them mature for 2-3 days in a bottle at room temperature. Strain them again, and the concoction is ready for drinking straight. You can have them immediately after mixing lemon and honey, but the grassy taste should remain on your tongue. Or, if you leave the bottle for more than 3 days, it will be spoiled. If you don’t drink them soon, you can refrigerate it for max 2 weeks. Timing is the key when we work with Japanese apricots and their related ingredients, I suppose.

Shiso Juice

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