Umezu

Vinaigre d’umeboshi (umezu)

What it is

Despite the name, umezu is not a vinegar: it is the brine the ume plums give up under salt, drawn off before the fruit goes out to dry in the July sun. The pink arrives only afterwards, when red shiso leaves are packed in and their pigment turns scarlet against the acid.

In the kitchen

Count it as salt and acid at once — a teaspoon replaces both the vinegar and the salt in a vinaigrette, so season only after tasting. Never reduce it: heat carries off the shiso perfume and leaves flat brine behind.

Goes with

Cucumber Daikon Shiso Rice Avocado Ginger

Same species

Bergeron apricot Almond Almond flour Almond oil Amardine Amarena cherry in syrup

Also used with

Beni shoga Shibazuke Red shiso

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