Ume-shu (Japanese Plum Juice)
Ume-shu is a Japanese plum syrup made by packing unripe ume fruit in rock sugar and leaving time to do the work. No cooking is involved, only patience and a dark cupboard, until the plums shrivel and give up their juice. The result is sweet, smooth and sharply acidic, and diluted with water it makes a cold summer drink. The liquor is optional, so the syrup suits people who usually avoid alcohol.
Instructions
Wash the plums and wipe them completely dry, since any water left on the fruit can spoil the batch.
Pack the plums tightly into a container together with the rock sugar. If you want an alcoholic version, add the white liquor at this point.
Pour the honey over the top of the plums.
Seal the container and store it in a cool, dark place. It is ready when the plums have shriveled and turned leathery, and the liquid has drawn out of them.
Lift the fruit out of the container and keep the liquid.
To serve, mix the plum liquid with twice its volume of water. During summer, keep the container somewhere cool.
Make it personal.
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