Two shades of ‘ume’. Plums from the rains.

The rainy season we have now in Japan (mid-June ~ mid-July in Kansai) is married with the plums. It’s called the “plum rains”. So these ume are the “rain plums”.
You make think they are not ripe on this photo. It’s true they are very sour and hard. But that’s at this stage of maturation that they are picked and used to make umeboshi (pickled plum).

When they reach this color they are too mature for the salted pickle. When they become soft…they are not sweet, still as sour and less fragrant. Well, mines are yellow and still hard.

Good to make jam !

With kurozato black sugar.

I’ve just put the whole plums, blocks of sugar and water in the home-bakery. Lazy… but I was punished : that splashed and then cleaning the machine was a hell !

On the little plate, ume pesto (see here).

Mitarashi tokk

Matcha and wagashi. Tea and cakes. That’s an informal tea ceremony with a Korean twist.
The model is mitarashi dango, skewers of mochi balls in a sweet sauce. But these are sticks…

I’ve used Korean mochi (tokk). I have no idea if that exists elsewhere than in Osaka, but you can see this version here. It’s very convenient to prepare.

Boiled them till soft (10 minutes).

Put on skewers. Passed a little sesame oil around.

Grilled the skewers.

I’ve made a sauce by melting a small block of kurozato black sugar in water, adding a little soy sauce, a pinch of hot chili and a little potato starch to thicken.

Reheated the sauce and painted the skewers with it.

Served with matcha green tea.

Sesame black sugar mousse is luscious

Schluuuuurrrrpppppp…
Mmmm. Sorry it’s over, there is none left ! Make yours it’s quick and you need only 3 ingredients.

That’s extremely simple. In a mill, process the sesame into paste, or use paste you already have (tahini, nerigoma).

Mix it to silky tofu (about 2 tbs of paste per cup) and a little kurozato black cane sugar. Whip well. Add a few drops of vanilla essence and a little brandy for flavoring (optional).