The incredible, edible plum

Hangovers....stomach flu....morning sickness....migraines.....overeating.....car sickness....eczema

Who in your family can't benefit from the healing power of the umeboshi plum?

My first experience with ume plum vinegar came through my good friend Lauren who gave me a delicious recipe for pressed salad many years ago. The salty, briny vinegar is a stand out flavor that I soon wanted to add to every salad I ate. Not just tasty, ume plums have been used as medicinal remedies in Japan and China for centuries.

Here is a great article on the health benefit highlights of ume plums.

You can see how I use it on a summer salad that I recently prepared for Mother's Day.

And if you really want to experience something amazing (or you are really hungover/ill) take yourself to Teaism and order the plum ochazuke. It is the the most soothing meal I have ever consumed in all of Washington DC. They float whole ume plums in the soup from which you will suck the briny flesh. There are no words for that kind of flavor experience. Just look at its glory.

Mother's Day Feasting

Yesterday was Mother's Day so my husband and I treated my parents to an all-out meat and veggies extravaganza. I had planned to take more pictures but we were all so excited to start eating, I forgot.

Here is the menu:

4lb ribeye roast

brined overnight, coated in a pepper dry rub and smoked for 4 hours

4lb brisket

brined overnight, dry spice rub and smoked for 8 hours

Roasted Vegetables

golden beets, celeriac, carrots, onions, japanese sweet potato

drizzled in grapeseed oil and sprinkled with sea salt and garlic powder

Spring Salad

arugula, baby spinich, fennel root, tomatoes, baby cucumbers

tossed in olive oil, ume plum vinegar and lemon juice

Strawberries and Cream

fresh whipped heavy cream with just a touch of vanilla (no sugar added)

fresh strawberries

My dad, who is 100x harder to feed then my five year old, loved the whole thing. He even ate all the roasted vegetables because he thought they were all varieties of potatoes. When I told him he had just eaten beets and celery root he seemed a bit surprised as he was sure that he didn't like those things.

After I digest all this meat, I will be sure to come back and delve in to the reasons I love using ume plum vinegar.