Umeboshi is one of the typical Japanese side dish and it tastes so much salty! They eat it with steamed rice. Japanese people have been familiar with it since the end of the third century. However the consumption of Umeboshi in Japan is getting decreasing these days.
What’s Umeboshi
Umeboshi is called salted pickled plums in English. It is made from Japanese plum or Japanese apricot. And they are preserved with a lot of salt and vinegar after that they are dried in the sun. That’s why Umeboshi is extremely salty!
Recently there are many kinds of Umeboshi. For example, the honey flavored Umeboshi, the brown sugar taste one and the low salt one.
A typical Japanese meal
Umeboshi is utilized for many cuisines. In Japan you put some ingredients in a lunch box to bring meal to the school or the office, the Umeboshi is often putted on the rice in the lunch box. Umeboshi has bactericidal activity.
Furthermore Umeboshi is also used for the filling of rice balls.
Japanese people aren’t interested in steamed rice anymore.
These days the consumption of rice in Japan is decreasing. The consumption of rice per Japanese person was 118.3kilograms in 1962 but it was 54.4kilograms in 2016. It is more than half of what it was. People says that it because the Japanese food cultures are westernizing. People choose the toasted bread or cereal for breakfast and you can choose the hamburger, pasta or pizza for meal not only typical Japanese food like sushi and rice ball.
Japanese people aren’t interested in Umeboshi anymore
Umeboshi very goes well with steamed rice but the occasion of eating rice is decreasing so the times of eating Umeboshi are decreasing as well.
These days people are interested in the healthy food so they tend to choose salt reduced foods. Umeboshi is high salt food. People tend to avoid choosing it. And the good taste Umeboshi is much expensive than usual one. If you would like to have delicious one, you need to pay more. But Umeboshi is difficult to be a main food for one meal like a steak or pizza. Would you like to buy expensive one for just one side menu?
Umeboshi flavor
As I mentioned above, Umeboshi is popular for Japanese people for long time ago. Although Japanese people don’t consume Umeboshi so much, they like Umeboshi tastes.
At the Japanese style pub or restaurant, you can find the menu using Umeboshi.
Umekyu: an appetizer that the sliced cucumber seasoned with Umeboshi
Umesyu: a liquor mande from the Japanese green plums and sugar.
There are many Umeboshi flavored snacks as well like Umeboshi flavored potato chips, chewing gum, candy and more.
Summary
Umeboshi is very familiar for Japanese people but the consumption of it in Japan is decreasing. But Japanese people still like Umeboshi taste. If it’s too much to ask of you to have Umeboshi, you can try something Umeboshi flavored ingredients!
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