Kari Kari Ume: Pickled Plums Different from Umeboshi
Ume (梅) is a plum fruit often used in Japan as a flavoring.
It can also be an ingredient in various foods. And when people think of the pickle made of the Ume plum, what comes to many minds is probably Umeboshi.
The pickled plum is pretty salty-sour, and many of us Japanese like to eat it with a warm bowl of white rice at meals.
Kari Kari Ume (カリカリ梅)
In addition to the traditional pickle, Japan has one more popular pickled Ume, which is different from Umeboshi, called Kari Kari Ume (カリカリ梅).
I picked up this package of Karikari Ume in the snack/candy section of a 7-Eleven convenience store near my house.
Unlike the Umeboshi using ripe reddish Ume, these pickles consist of unripe green Ume plums.
These treats are uncolored, but some products use a red color to make the snack look like Umeboshi.
Features
One primary characteristic of Kari Kari Ume * is the crisp texture brought by using calcium, which prevents the pickles from becoming soft and limp.
* Kari Kari (カリカリ) in its name is a Japanese onomatopoeia for crisp/crunchy sounds.
Compared to Umeboshi, these KariKari Ume plums are not too salty-sour and easy to eat.
They contain some moisture (because of being not dried under the sun) but have a delightful crispness.
Ingredients/Nutrition Facts
Lastly, for your information, here are the specific ingredients and nutrition facts of the Kari Kari Ume I got this time.
| Ume, Pickling liquid (Salt, Ume vinegar, Brewed vinegar, Sugars (High fructose corn syrup, starch syrup, sugar) Honey), Sweeteners (Sorbitol, Stevia), Acidifier, Calcium lactate, Seasoning (Amino acid), Flavoring, Vitamin B1 |
Nutritional Values
| Calories | 14 kcal |
| Protein | 0.4 g |
| Fat | 0 g |
| Carbohydrates | 3.8 g |
| – Sugars | 1.9 g |
| – Dietary fibers | 1.9 g |
| Salt equivalents | 2.4 g |
(Reference Page: Wikipedia カリカリ梅 )
