Two different brands of umeboshi plums ... and one single plum.
**POSTPONED: My talk/book signing at Lois' Natural Marketplace, scheduled for tonight, has been postponed because of the snow, sleet and rain. We're figuring out a new time and will let you know!
I did a post back on Jan. 20, in which I mentioned ume plums. I then was asked some questions about them:
"What does the Japanese plum taste like? I've read they are good for
cancer prevention, but I've heard them called sour plums, too, so I'm
curious whether I'd enjoy eating one."
Ume is short for umeboshi plum, which is a Japanese pickled plum prized for its healing properties. They're pickled, and very alkalizing to the body because they're quite salty. As in the case with many healing things, more is not better, so a general rule of thumb for someone eating a macrobiotic diet: no more than three per week is recommended. They're frequently eaten broken up into small pieces and mixed in with rice at the table. If I'm going to have one with my dinner, I usually have a half plum. (If you eat too much salt, you'll crave the opposite, which is sugar.)
It's said that ume plums are both picked and dried. During the drying period, they're left outside so that they're exposed to both the energy from the sun and from the moon.
They do make your mouth pucker a little bit, but most people like the taste when it's only a small piece. It's a salty/sour taste like when you eat a pickle. Maybe this is why some people call them sour plums.
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Two different brands of umeboshi plums ... and one single plum.
**POSTPONED: My talk/book signing at Lois' Natural Marketplace, scheduled for tonight, has been postponed because of the snow, sleet and rain. We're figuring out a new time and will let you know!
I did a post back on Jan. 20, in which I mentioned ume plums. I then was asked some questions about them:
Ume is short for umeboshi plum, which is a Japanese pickled plum prized for its healing properties. They're pickled, and very alkalizing to the body because they're quite salty. As in the case with many healing things, more is not better, so a general rule of thumb for someone eating a macrobiotic diet: no more than three per week is recommended. They're frequently eaten broken up into small pieces and mixed in with rice at the table. If I'm going to have one with my dinner, I usually have a half plum. (If you eat too much salt, you'll crave the opposite, which is sugar.)
It's said that ume plums are both picked and dried. During the drying period, they're left outside so that they're exposed to both the energy from the sun and from the moon.
They do make your mouth pucker a little bit, but most people like the taste when it's only a small piece. It's a salty/sour taste like when you eat a pickle. Maybe this is why some people call them sour plums.