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Umeboshi

Salt-pickled Japanese plum, intensely sour and salty.

Umeboshi — illustrative ingredient image

About Umeboshi

Umeboshi is a salt-pickled Japanese plum used as a strongly seasoned ingredient in Japanese cooking. It is eaten with rice, tucked into rice balls, or stirred into sauces, dressings, and fillings when a sharp sour-salty accent is wanted. The fruit may be sold with or without its pit, and its flesh is also used in pastes and other preparations.

Its defining flavour is intensely sour and salty, often with a fruity, fermented, or mildly aromatic note. The texture ranges from tender and juicy to dense and paste-like, depending on the curing and the product. Salt and any added shiso or other seasonings can further change the flavour and colour.

Whole umeboshi are wrinkled, soft fruits, commonly reddish, brownish, or plum-coloured. Pitted flesh can be chopped, mashed, or blended, while paste spreads easily through a dish. It may be used directly, diluted into a dressing, or cooked with other ingredients; removing the pit changes the edible portion and texture.

Ingredient type
compound ingredient

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Where umeboshi appears

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Name examples awaiting language review. Confirm the specific food or product.

Local names for umeboshi

Names and romanised forms to recognise on menus and labels.

English

Umeboshi

umeboshi

Available names only. Languages may be spoken in other countries; a name alone does not identify every ingredient in a dish.

Umeboshi nutrition & diet

Umeboshi nutritional value

Mume*, "Umeboshi" (pickled and dried mume), salted pickles ［*Syn. Japanese apricots］ — MEXT 07022

Per 100 g of the edible portion in the explicitly named reference form.

Calories
29kcal
Protein
0.9g
Carbs
8.6g
Fat
0.7g

Per 100 g edible portion. Values use MEXT 2023 with March 2026 corrections; the English food name is matched by food code from the official English edition. Carbohydrate is total carbohydrate by difference. Values in parentheses in the source are estimates reported by MEXT. This reference does not cover other preparations or brands.

Portions & preparation

Use the edible pickled plum portion and distinguish whole, pitted, paste, vinegar, or seasoning forms. Record whether it is salted, sweetened, shiso-seasoned, or packed with other ingredients; rice, porridge, fillings, and sauces are separate foods accompanying the umeboshi.

Compare the right form: Match a reference to Japanese salt-pickled ume fruit, specifying whole or pitted fruit, paste, seasoning, and sweetened or unsweetened form.

Diet considerations

Umeboshi is plant-derived pickled ume fruit, but formulations may contain shiso, sweeteners, flavorings, or other additives. Compatibility changes when combined with rice, wheat noodles, sauces, fish, or meat. The exact preserved form and recipe determine the dish’s carbohydrate pattern and dietary classification.

AI-authored reading notes · Awaiting editorial review. Measured values, where available, have a separate source above.

Dietary compatibility

  • Vegan
    Not established
  • Vegetarian
    Not established
  • Pescatarian
    Not established
  • Keto
    Not established
  • Paleo
    Not established
  • Low-carb
    Not established
  • Halal
    Not established
  • Kosher
    Not established
What these diet assessments mean
Vegan · Not established
The available profile does not establish the full composition or processing for this dietary pattern.
Vegetarian · Not established
The available profile does not establish the full composition or processing for this dietary pattern.
Pescatarian · Not established
The available profile does not establish the full composition or processing for this dietary pattern.
Keto · Not established
A defined serving and sourced carbohydrate data are needed before assessing this dietary pattern.
Paleo · Not established
The ingredient form and processing have not been assessed against this dietary pattern.
Low-carb · Not established
A defined serving and sourced carbohydrate data are needed before assessing this dietary pattern.
Halal · Not established
Sourcing, processing and any applicable certification have not been verified. A food name alone does not establish halal status.
Kosher · Not established
Sourcing, processing and any applicable certification have not been verified. A food name alone does not establish kosher status.

For the plain ingredient · Awaiting review. Diet compatibility is not allergy suitability or halal/kosher certification. Keto and low-carb depend on the portion.

Reviewed ingredient entryIngredient reference · Preparations vary

AI-generated illustration for visual context. It does not identify a particular product or establish allergen content.

Sources & review

Nutrition reference: MEXT Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan, 2023 supplement, corrected March 2026 ↗. Values are scaled from 100 g of the recorded edible form. Individual portions have no assumed fixed weight.

Expanded overview, name examples and nutrition notes are database drafts awaiting editorial review. Numeric nutrition values, where shown, have their own source and food-form reference.

The ingredient description and dish connections come from the draft catalogue and may change after review.

Last recorded verification: .