Preserving: I've made ume boshi and it's a rather involved process. The hardest by Recipe Cottage

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	I've made ume boshi and it's a rather involved process. The hardest

		part is to find a supply of ume, a Japanese fruit which is really closer to an apricot than a plum. A friend of mine has an ume tree, so I get them from her. The recipe book says you can use green-yellowish plums or green-yellowish firm apricots. Soak 3 lbs ume in water overnight. The next day pat the ume completely dry with paper towels and place them in the tsukedaru (pickling vat). Mix in 1 1/2 cups salt and toss. (See Note.) Cover with a drop lid and add a weight equal to the weight of the plums. Let sit for one week. After a week, pour off the resulting pickle juice called hakubaizu (white plum vinegar), and save for use in other recipes. Refrigerate the umezuke (the product of this step) until ready to continue with the next step. Place 60 red shiso leaves (Perilla frutescens) in the tsukedaru and add 1 tsp. salt. Knead by hand until the juices are released. Discard the juice. Add 3 or 4 Tbsp. hakubaizu left over from making the umezuke and mix well. Add the umezuke to the shiso mixture and continue to fill the tsukedaru with hakubaizu until all ingredients are submerged. Cover with a drop lid and place a weight on top of the lid which is the same weight as all ingredients, and let sit in a cool place for about one month. On a very dry, hot day remove the ume and spread outside on a flat basket for 2 to 3 days until the plums turn light brown and show salt evaporation lines. Do not allow them to dry completely and harden. These plums will keep for a few years if stored in a cool place. Note: I found the end result a little too salty. Another cookbook recommends using 10 - 15% of the weight of the fruit in salt and increasing the amount of shiso to 3/4 lbs.