Japan is known by the whole world for a cuisine that does not abuse too much spice but focuses on highlighting the fresh, natural flavor of the dish.The taste of Japanese food is usually elegant, gentle and suitable for nature in each season.Add new colors to the monochromatic cuisine of the land of the rising sun, Umeboshi salt apricot stands out as a special dot thanks to the salty and sour taste.
What is Umeboshi salt apricot?
Umeboshi is a very popular melon dish in Japanese culinary culture made by bringing apricot salt to soak for a long time to dry.Umeboshi basically has 2 types: yellow and red salted apricots.Yellow is the inherent natural color of apricot;Besides, the red apricot is made up of salt with perilla leaves and is widely used.Umeboshi is often soft, has a harsh and salty taste.In addition, there is another type of salted apricot called Umezuke will be more crispy, due to not withered.
As mentioned, the secret behind the red color of the apricot dish lies in the perilla is common.In the early days of June every year, the apricot branches in the harvest season are a sign of a Japanese apricot salt season.The most delicious and full apricots will be carefully selected to bring salt, because the scratches will easily make the salt and make the salt and the delicious taste need.
After carefully choosing, the salt will wash the apricot and then remove the stem and take it to soak in salt water or strong wine to be sterilized.At the same time, perilla leaves are also shook with salt and squeeze it.The ratio of salt is usually not fixed;People can automatically decrease because the more salt the amount of salt, the longer the dream is kept.
After the preparations are completed, the apricot salt will put the salt in the jar or the crockery and then cleverly put an additional layer of apricot and a layer of perilla leaves, alternating each layer until it is full and then using the lidClose and place in the dark.Slowly, the salt will gradually dissolve to create a salty taste, the dream also releases all the sour taste and perilla out of purple.When the amount of water is flooded across the surface of the apricot, people will remove apricot and perilla out to dry for 2 to 3 days.The amount of apricot soaked water is called "Umeboshi apricot vinegar", and is often used with salted apricots.Salted apricot after being dried can be separated into another vial or soaked with apricot vinegar to continue using.The longer the incubation time, the better the dream and the nutritional value is therefore higher.
Typically, after only 1 year, salt and salt can be used;However, to make the taste more rich and increase nutrition, Japanese people can soak in 3 to 5 years.The most famous locality for making Umeboshi is Minabe, the land located in the central region of Wakayama province of Japan.
From the historical story stretching for centuries
Tightly associated with the culinary life of Japanese people but few people know Umeboshi contains a long -standing cultural story.In the Heian period (794 - 1185), a king was able to cure himself by drinking tea mixed with umeboshi and kombu kelp.Since then, it is believed that Umeboshi has the effect of detoxifying and then this food begins to be widely used by kings and aristocracy as a wake used to dessert after every meal.After that, the samurai also began to use salted apricots widely.However, at this time, salted apricots are still luxurious and not for civilians.
Then, by the Sengoku period (1467-1603), Umeboshi was used on the battlefield as a detoxifying and food-made antidote.The image of the samurai on the battlefield with Umeboshi hanging on his waist becomes extremely popular.These samurai use umeboshi to avoid poisoning and use apricot water to disinfect wounds because they have high salt content.In the Edo period (1603 - 1868), salted apricots are widely used everywhere and in all classes by agriculture, people can grow this tree easily.Each home can be apricot for themselves and then salted to quickly become a traditional dish in Japanese culinary culture.
To the indispensable ingredient on the modern Japanese dining table
From a dish for kings, through many historical periods, salted apricots gradually become popular and permanent in the daily meals of Japanese people.Not only is it a familiar dish, the inside of the salt apricot also contains no small nutritional value.Salt apricot contains many important minerals such as potassium, manganese, vitamin A ... Besides, this dish is also a wild remedy that has the effect of detoxifying and treating diseases of the throat, colds, cough, stomach.
During the war years, Umeboshi salted apricots were especially important foods of the Japanese, because they were simple, easy to store and used for a long time.A bowl of white rice with umeboshi has absolutely no vegetables, meat and other foods are enough to finish the meal.Yet the Japanese have a saying about the Umeboshi salt apricot as follows: "Humans will exist as long as there is a Umeboshi fruit lying on the bowl of rice".
Today, when Japan has risen to become a power in the world, the lives of the people are much better, but the salted apricot with white rice still exists as a beauty in the culinary culture deeply ingrained in life.Live daily.Umeboshi is also often enjoyed with Udon noodles.In the summer, Udon has Umeboshi that helps to support digestion, and winter will help fight the flu and sore throat.
Umeboshi salt can also be cooked, drink with hot green tea, in a pureed form that can be used as spices for dishes.Apricot vinegar is used as antiseptic until the middle of the twentieth century, today they are used to stir fry vegetables or sprinkle on rice.
Inside the salt apricot is small but contains a lot of flavors and nutritional composition is a whole story of many generations of Japanese people.Umeboshi is no longer merely a dish, but above all, it has become an iconic image, doting a special color in the culinary culture of the country of the rising sun.