#umeboshi

Umeboshi🌸

Have You Ever Tried Ice Lemon Udon? (in Kurashiki)

We stopped at Kamikura, where they were serving their seasonal dish—lemon udon! It was my very first time trying it, and honestly, I didn’t know what to expect. In my head, I imagined it would be super sour.

But my friend, who had it last time and recommended it, was right—it wasn’t overly sour at all. Instead, there was a gentle hint of sweetness that balanced it perfectly. The real surprise, though, was the noodles themselves. They were unbelievably chewy—me and my other friend were chewing non-stop! It was almost like eating mochi in noodle form.

We also ordered a plate of tempura to share, which paired really nicely with the udon. Crispy, light, and satisfying—it made the meal feel complete.

+ it came with a side dish of tofu...which I thought was very salty.

今年の梅仕事。

お友達の梅の木から4キロの梅をゲット！

今年は島中色々と豊作らしい

梅に枇杷にみんな忙しい6月。

青梅は白岳米焼酎で梅酒に

"Shio-ume (塩梅 = Salt plum)"?

Deciding, after all this time, to read more novels to strengthen my Japanese and expand my vocabulary, I scoured the books I had always wanted to read, especially my late father's bookshelves. Naturally, all I found were classic Japanese literature dating back to the pre-Showa period and even centuries earlier.

Two words that have been on my mind recently are ‘Salt plum (塩梅)’.

‘What... suddenly the salt plum...?’

A large red pickled plum with salt gushing out on the surface comes to mind for a moment. However, when reading a novel, the flow of the story is more important, so I seldom stop at a single word, whatever the language.

‘Anbai (塩梅 = just right)’? is this kind of kanji characters. ‘Eh, eh.’

The word means ‘salt and plum vinegar’, and in the days when there was no vinegar, the ume vinegar produced when pickled plums were used to season food. The word was derived from the fact that the taste was ‘It's just right’. 

However, this has been a challenge. The Japanese language is deep. Language is a useful tool for learning about a country's history and culture.

Anyway, I made and ate rice balls with salt plums with the seasonal new rice. Yum, Yum!

[Note: Umeboshi (salted ume-plums) are extremely sour and salty that will make saliva spread through your mouth with a sizzle if you are Japanese, just by reading the words or looking at the image.]

「しおうめ」？

今更ながら、日本語を強化し語彙を増やすためにもっと小説を読もうと思い、私はずっと読みたかった本、特に亡き父の本棚を漁った。当然のことながら、私が見つけたのは昭和以前、さらには数世紀前までさかのぼる古典的な日本文学ばかりだ。

近ごろ気になっていた単語が「塩梅」という２文字。

「えっ、いきなり塩梅って…なんだ…？」

塩が表面に噴き出した大粒の赤い梅ぼしが１ケ、一瞬脳裏に浮かぶ。しかし、小説を読むときは、ストーリーの流れの方が重要なので、どんな言語であろうと、一語で立ち止まることはめったにない。

しかし、度々目にすると、流石に気になって調べた。

「あんばい」？ってこういう漢字なんだ。「え、えーっ」！

「塩と梅酢」という意味で、食酢がなかった時代に梅を漬けたときにできる梅酢を使って料理の味付けをしていたそうだ。その味が「良いあんばい」だったことが語源とのこと。良い考えだ！これからは余った梅酢は料理に使おう、と思った。体にも良さそうだ。

しかし、これには参った。日本語は奥が深い。言語とは、その国の歴史や文化を知る上で有効なツールだ。