Umeboshi onigiri is a popular Japanese dish made from umeboshi. These rice balls are quick and simple to make and portable. It may even be one of your bento box's dishes. The sour salted plum adds a nice kick to simple rice balls. They're tasty and refreshing. The popular Japanese rice ball known as ume onigiri has existed for many years. Japanese pickled plum, or umeboshi, is a salted plum with a powerful sour and salty taste. You'll be surprised by how sour it is when you first bite into it, but adding it to your onigiri pickled plum rice gives plain rice a fantastic flavor, and the amount of sourness is just ideal.

Japanese Pickled Plum – Umeboshi

A Japanese-style pickled plum is called umeboshi. In Japanese, ume is the word for plum, while boshi means to dry. To preserve them, these salted plums are pickled and then sun-dried. The plum's flavor is improved by both drying and pickling. Umeboshi are rich in polyphenols, which may lower blood pressure, prevent arterial hardening, and improve calcium absorption, lowering diabetes risk. It is well regarded as a digestive aid. Red shiso (beefsteak) leaves were used to pickle, sundry, and mature the food for a year. They are perfect for sushi, sushi rice, cooked rice and rice balls and lend acidity to salads, dips, and sauces.

Umeboshi Onigiri Recipe

Plum Onigiri, made with fluffy Japanese rice, chopped pickled plums, and sesame seeds, are the ideal picnic or gathering delicacy. After being wrapped in nori sheets, they are delicately compressed and salted. The delicious, tangy, and nutty flavor is tough not to fall in love with. Umeboshi is a popular ingredient in Japanese cuisine. It has gained popularity as a superfood due to its medical benefits and mineral content, as well as being delicious.

📋 Ingredients

• white rice
  - Japanese short grain rice or the sticky rice is highly recommended when making rice ball recipes. It is good for shaping your onigiri into your desired shape.

  

• dried nori seaweed
  - You can get this nori sheets at an Asian grocery story anywhere. It is a type of seaweed that is all in one because it has a crispy texture.

  

• salt
  - to taste

  

• umeboshi - pickled plums
  - Unripe plums are used to make umeboshi, also known as Japanese pickled plums, a traditional Japanese preserved delicacy that is pickled with salt and then sun-dried. Pickling is commonly done with red shiso leaves, which provide the color. Its salty, tangy flavor complements simple Japanese rice. Before assembling the onigiri, remove the seed.

  

• toasted sesame seeds
  - garnishing, this is optional.

  

• bonito flakes
  - for garnishing, this is optional too.

  

📖 Recipe

The following is the step-by-step procedure on making the Umeboshi Onigiri

1. Start with cutting motion, roughly divide your nori sheets into your desired measurement.

2. Set aside a bowl of water, salt, steamed rice and the nori sheet. Then, remove the seed of the umeboshi and cut it to make a umeboshi paste. (Note: sticky rice is highly recommended for you to achieve a better outcome)

3. In a small bowl, mix the rice together with umeboshi paste at the center of the rice.

4. Form the rice into a triangle shape with wet hands and salt on your palm. (You can also use onigiri mold for the better result and fastest way)

5. Wrap it with a nori sheet. Garnish with your white sesame seeds or bonito flakes and it's done.

6. Serve it and enjoy to love onigiri more!

What to serve with

Since pickled plum onigiri is one of the most common onigiri variation in Japan, there is some food food you can serve with it. Here's the list of the dish or recipe you can serve with your pickled plum rice balls:

• Ume Onigiri

• Tempura

• Miso Soup

• Salad

• Sushi

How to Serve Pickled Plum Rice Balls

You can serve pickled plum rice balls after making them with your preferred dish. Please wrap each Onigiri in plastic if you intend to eat them later or the next day and months. They can also be stored in the refrigerator for a few days and in the freezer for up to a month. Do not wrap the nori seaweed with plastic wrap when freezing. And just before serving, microwave it (do not thaw it at room temperature as it will get dry).

Recommended Umeboshi Plums (Whole Fruits)

It is always recommended to use a whole pickled plum in every recipe you make. Umeboshi is produced from Kanjuku Ume plums, which are ripe, yellow, and flushed. The green ones can be used to make umeboshi, but they are very astringent and must be soaked in water for 6 hours before processing.

Other Popular Rice Balls (Onigiri) You'll love

• Tuna Mayo Onigiri

• Salted Salmon Onigiri

• Ume Goma Onigiri

• Ume Wakame Onigiri

• Ume Miso Yaki Onigiri

FAQs

Where to Find Ko Ume

Koume is a variety of umeboshi pickles made from an alternative ume plum. Smaller and more delicate, the fruit. The same flavor but with less intensity: soft, acidic, salty, and a bright red hue. Fantastic for bento boxes or rice balls. This ko ume can be commonly found at Japanese convenience stores, grocery stores, and online shops worldwide.

Are Japanese pickled plum good for you?

The Japanese plum is a favorite fruit because it is naturally sweet. Many people prefer to eat it "as is," sometimes immediately off the tree when it's ripe. Because of their sweetness, Japanese plums are used as a natural sweetener in many meals to reduce the amount of sugar used. Umeboshi is high in polyphenols, which may lower blood pressure, prevent arterial hardening, increase calcium absorption, and reduce the incidence of diabetes.

Why do Japanese put umeboshi on rice?

The umeboshi are normally served as a complement to a rice meal, bringing out the overall flavor of the food and providing a subtle accent of its own. However, some advanced-level connoisseurs have been known to devour the plums independently. Umeboshi are frequently consumed in little quantities with rice to add taste. It is also a typical component of onigiri, which are rice balls wrapped in nori and used in makizushi.

What does pickled plum onigiri taste like?

If you placed a whole plum in your mouth, you'd be stunned since it's highly acidic, salty, flavorful, and not tasty. A natural sour patch kid, if you will. On the other hand, a little pocket of pickled plum hidden under a cloud of sticky white rice offers a potent flavor assault. The acidity is so powerful that it causes your lips to crumple and your face pucker. Most people may find the first taste to be overwhelming. When you first bite into it, you'll be surprised by how sour it tastes, but it gives a nice flavor to plain rice, and the sourness balance is just right.'

Why is it recommended to use Japanese short-grain rice (Sushi rice)?

You want the rice to stick together when making sushi, such as rolls and nigiri. Because short-grain rice has a higher starch content, it is ideal for producing rolls and nigiri. As a result, numerous recipes call for short-grain Japonica Japanese rice. Short-grain rice is known for its starchy texture, which makes it great for dishes that require the grains to hold together, such as sushi, or for recipes that require a creamy texture, such as rice pudding.

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TAKEAWAYS

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