The first step is to soak them overnight (about 8 hours), then leave them to drain and dry off...
But before that, there's one vital job that has to be done: you have to take out all the hard parts — the technical term is "the woody bits" — where the fruit were attached to their stems. Laborious but essential...
Then it's time to add the salt. Our rule of thumb is 1:5 salt to ume. A layer of salt goes in at the bottom, then ume and salt alternately till the crock is full.
It's best that the fruit fill the crock around two-thirds of the way up to the top, otherwise they don't produce enough juice to cover them during the pickling process.
Next it's time to get out the drop-lid.
This has got to be wide enough to cover almost all of the surface of the fruit, to spread the weight evenly. We prefer to use a drop-lid made of ceramic — it adds a kilo of weight — rather than plastic (and metal is an absolute no-no).
Before the weights go on top, we always make sure the drop-lid is as sterile as possible. Not just washed and dried, but given a spray of alcohol — usually shochu — before it touches the fruit.
Then the weights go on top. For the intial few days, we use double the weight of the ume underneath.
The only thing left to do now is wrap the top tight with cling-film, cover the crock with paper, and leave in a cool dark place. And wait.
And keep our fingers crossed — and offer a few prayers up to the kitchen gods — that our umeboshi stay mould-free.
[Day 1 of pickling: 9th June]
[The next step, checking the juice, continues here…]
