# Ume gohan (rice with Japanese plums) ｜ Our Regional Cuisines

**Cuisine Name**: Ume gohan (rice with Japanese plums)

**Region**: Our Regional Cuisines

## Main Lore Areas
Odawara

## Main Ingredients Used
Umeboshi (preserved Japanese plums), rice, dried young sardines

## History, Origin, and Related Events
This dish is made with rice mixed with umeboshi (preserved Japanese plums) and dried young sardines, and cooked in dashi stock. It is perfect for summer, and allows you to enjoy the fresh aroma of Japanese plums and umami taste of sardines. A local woman from Kanagawa who became a "skills leader for old-fashioned living techniques" conceived of it as a dish that would bring out the features of Odawara cooking, and spread it to surrounding areas. It is regularly eaten as a staple meal by local families. Japanese plums have been cultivated in Odawara ever since the Warring States period. Initially, plum trees were planted in the land near castles to produce military provisions. In the Edo period, travelers passing through Hakone found Odawara's preserved plums useful as a side dish that would prevent their bento box lunch from spoiling. Pickled fresh plums appeared as a local Odawara specialty suited to hiking along the Tokaido road between Tokyo and Kyoto. In the present day, plums are grown in large numbers at the Soga Plum Grove, which ranks among the three biggest plum groves in the Kanto region. Odawara can boast of producing the most plums of anywhere in Kanagawa. The juuroume breed, grown only to Odawara, has thick, soft flesh, and is held to be the best variety of plum for umeboshi.The local area has developed various dishes, new and old, that use the familiar plum as an ingredient, including those that use plum extract and plum jam. One of these is ume gohan, or plum rice.

## Opportunities and Times of Eating Habits
It is enjoyed as an everyday staple by families in the Soga region, where plum cultivation is widespread. It often appears on tables during summer, the harvest season for plums.

## How to Eat
Take some dashi stock with konbu (kelp) and katsuoboshi (dried fish flakes), add sake and mirin, then use it to soak rinsed rice for about an hour. Mix in umeboshi and dried young sardines, and cook the rice. Serve in a large bowl, and finish with some finely chopped shiso (Chinese basil) leaves for garnish.

## Efforts for Preservation and Succession
(Outline of the traditions, the preservation society, social media use, modern approaches at commercialization)This is the recipe that has been carefully passed down by local families.

## Ingredients
- rice: 3 cups
- umeboshi (stones removed): 50g
- dried young sardines: 1／3 cup
- dashi stock (with a splash of sake and 2 tablespoons mirin): 720cc
- (Chinese basil) leaves: 5 shiso
- narutomaki (processed fish paste stick with a spiral pattern, optional): 1 stick

## Recipe
1. 1. Prepare the dashi stock, together with some konbu (kelp) and katsuoboshi (dried bonito flakes), and set aside.
2. 2. Rinse the rice. Cover with the sake, mirin and dashi stock, and leave to soak for approximately 3 hours.
3. 3. Add the umeboshi and dried sardines, and boil the rice.
4. 4. Once the rice is cooked, transfer to a large bowl for serving. Garnish with finely chopped shiso leaves (use chopped seaweed if shiso leaves are unavailable).
5. 5. If you have a stick of narutomaki, you can also chop this into thin slices for garnish.

## Provider Information
provider : Recipe source: Mutsuki-kai

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