Plum Wine (Umeshu)

Instructions

1. Before You Start…Please note that this recipe requires at least one year before it's ready to enjoy—so be patient, and consider making more than one batch!
2. Gather all the ingredients. You will need a 4-L glass jar (you can buy one in a Japanese or Korean grocery store).
3. Rinse the jar thoroughly with soap and hot water and wipe dry with a clean towel. Dampen the clean towel with shochu (or your choice of liquor) and wipe inside the jar.
4. Wash and dry 2.2 lb green ume plums thoroughly. (Use 1.8 lb green ume plums for version B.)
5. Remove all the stems from the plums with a bamboo skewer or toothpick. Discard any plums with brown or blemish spots.
6. Measure 1.8 lb white rock sugar (or 1.5 lb white rock sugar for version B). I recommend a sugar amount of between half the weight of the plums (1.1 lb, 500 g) to equal the weight (2.2 lb, 1 kg). You just have to try it out to learn your preference (which you will find out after a year). For one batch, I like to use 800 g. The best part is that it's easy to remember, too—1 kg plums, 800 g sugar, and 1.8 L liquor per batch.
7. In the clean jar, put the plums in a single layer. Then, cover the plums with a layer of rock sugar.
8. Then, add more plums in a single layer again, followed by the rock sugar. Repeat this process until you're done with the plums and sugar.
9. Pour 7½ cups shochu or your choice of liquor (or 6.3 cups shochu for version B). This bottle of shochu is 750 ml, so you'll need 2 bottles plus an additional 300 ml. If you have leftover shochu, you can make a yuzu cocktail.
10. After pouring the shochu, it looks like this.
11. Seal, write today's date on the jar, and store in a cool, dark place (not in the refrigerator) for 365 days. See you in a year! You can start drinking from 6 months, but I recommend to wait for a whole year.
12. Remove the plums from the jar and use them for other recipes. You can leave them in the jar for 2–3 years as long as you use green plums (firm and not ripened) and 35% alcohol. (The liquid in the jar is a bit less in the photo because I had to pour some out for filming the video.)
13. You can make Plum Jam by cooking the plums and sugar. Spread it on toast, add in yogurt, make a gelatin dessert. Or you can bake a cake with the spent plums, make cocktails with crushed plums, or use them in savory dishes.