Picture this: I have 2 hours before being picked up by a taxi for the first leg of my long journey to Narita Airport (which, by the way, is entirely too far away from Tokyo). I may have loose ends to take care of like packing a few last minute things, cleaning the apartment a little more, or perhaps making sure I have my passport ready to go. Instead, I decide to assemble homemade umeshu. Granted, my wonderful husband cleaned and stemmed the plums the night before so most of the hard work was finished. Still, who makes umeshu shortly before jumping on a plane? Me, apparently.

Since the season for ume (plums) begins in late May, I had little choice but to make this recipe at the very last second before heading back to the U.S. for June, July and August. Since I can’t drink it for a while, it’s just as well… The steps to put this all together are quite simple. Here they are:

1. Chose ume that are green and firm with no bruising or other blemishes.
2. Use rock sugar. This is sold in nearly every grocery store in Tokyo during ume season.

3. Use shochu or other clear, tasteless alcohol like vodka or, if you are brave, Everclear.
4. Allow lots of time. Some people allow umeshu 10 years of sitting time before drinking time. It is not necessary to wait that long- I’ll probably give it a year, maybe 2.

5. After sterilizing the airtight glass jar being used, allow it to air dry completely.
6. Begin layering the ume and sugar in the jar (1 layer ume, 1 layer of sugar) until you have used up your ingredients. (It is best to leave about half the jar empty. My jar was quite small, so I left about 4 or 5 inches at the top…hopefully it will be OK!)

7. Pour alcohol over the plums and sugar.
8. Tightly seal the jar and set in a cool, dark space.

As with the yuzucello I made in the fall, we will all have to wait patiently for the results! A little more patiently for the umeshu though…

In other news, I have a fun project in the works for this summer’s Cocktail Friday posts! Since I will be mainly in Minnesota and Colorado over the next couple months, I have decided to visit various bars and restaurants in both states so I can photograph and write about fun cocktail finds. My hope is that I will not only find some fun venues to share with you, but also that I will learn more about cocktail crafting myself. So, if you know of any great places to visit in the Twin Cities or Denver areas, please let me know by commenting on this post! I’d love to get some suggestions!

My first post is up on JapanEats.tv! I have signed on to post recipes featuring a fusion of Japanese ingredients in traditional dishes that may be a bit more familiar to “us foreigners.” Check it out by clicking on this link (and leave a comment to let us know what you think!)