Make the best of the Japanese plum season by making plum wine (Umeshu) and once the wine is ready, use the plums to make this delicious plum jam! It’s sweet and tart and bursting with the season’s flavor. Spread the plum jam on your breakfast toast, mix in your yogurt, or use it for your savory cooking.
For those of you who have followed my recipe on how to make plum wine (umeshu) last year, congratulations. Your patience is finally paying off and the plum wine is now ready to drink!
The liqueur takes a year to mature, and with the weather continues to warm up, we’ve come to a full circle to enjoy our ‘fruit of labor’ from last year. Just before you open the jar, you may wonder what to do with the plums in the plum wine.
In today’s post, I’ll show you how to make my favorite Plum Jam (梅ジャム) using those used plums!
Can You Eat The Plums from the Plum Wine?
Yes, you can totally eat the ume plums from the wine! Serve them with your plum wine so you can nibble them while you drink. The plums are pretty in the drink, too (depending on your plum color), but if you’re looking into other ways to utilize those used plums, here are some ideas on how to consume them.
- Make jams for your breakfast toasts, yogurt, gelatin dessert (continue reading!)
- Bake a cake with plums (just like other fruit cakes)
- Make cocktails with crushed plums
- Use in savory dishes
Your plums did a tremendous job making your delicious plum wine for a year. Now that their job is done, it doesn’t mean it’s time to toss them away. This amazing stone fruit is the fruit that never stops giving. So let’s make yummy plum jams that you can enjoy on your toasts or in yogurt for your breakfast!
Make Delicious Plum Jam with Plums (from Plum Wine)
Jam making sounds tedious and time-consuming, and it’s kind of true. To use up all the fresh yuzu I had, I made yuzu jam and that took a lot of effort and time. So for my plums, I do it differently.
The most time-consuming part of making plum jam is to remove the seeds from the plums. Unfortunately, there is no a “plum pitter” like one for cherries and you have to cut off the flesh from the seed with a knife.
Therefore, I only take out some plums just enough to make jams for one to two small mason jars. That way, my family can enjoy the delicious jams for a few weeks while the rest of plums continue to work in the winemaking.
Unlike fresh fruits, these plums in the plum wine don’t really “go bad”. Thanks to the higher % alcohol in the wine and there is no need to use them up in a hurry. It’s a win-win!
There’s really no better way than to repurpose the plums into a deliciously sweet-tart jam after a year of waiting. With the new season upon us once again, I hope you have fun making plum wine and plum jam every year!
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
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Plum Jam
Make the best of the Japanese plum season by making plum wine (Umeshu) and once the wine is ready, use the plums to make this delicious plum jam!
- 1.1 lb green plums from plum wine (Umeshu) ((500 g))
- ¾ cup sugar ((150 g))
- ¼ cup plum wine ((120 ml))
- With a sterilized spoon, take out the plums from the plum wine.
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Measure the weight of the plums. It should be roughly 1.1 lb (500 g). Pour ¼ cup plum wine to a measuring cup.
- Place the plums in a large pot and add water to cover the plums. Bring it to a boil and cook on medium low heat for 5 minutes.
- Take out the plums and let cool until you can touch the plums.
- Separate the flesh and seeds using a knife.
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Mince the flesh. Measure the weight of the green plum flesh. You will need sugar that’s 50% of the weight of plum. My plums were 10.6 oz (300 g) total, so 5.3 oz (150 g) sugar.
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Add the chopped plums, sugar, and plum wine in the saucepan.
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Stir over low heat (simmer) until the sugar is dissolved, about 10-12 minutes. The jam should still be runny and it will thicken as it cools down.
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Before transferring to the jars, increase the heat to high, and bring the mixture to a full rolling boil, stirring often. Transfer to hot sterile jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace, and seal. If the jam is going to be eaten right away, refrigerate. If you are going to keep it for a long time, process in a water bath, using a proper canning technique.
To Store
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Store in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 weeks and enjoy it soon.
How to Sterilize the Jars.
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I use my Instant Pot to sterilize jars and utensils. Instant Pot Ultra has "Sterilize" button, but if you use other Instant Pot models, you can select “Steam” program and set high pressure for 5 minutes.
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Transfer the sterile jars onto a clean towel to cool.
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.d link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
