---
title: Umeboshi and red shiso rice ball
url: https://karigurashijourney.com/en/notes/umeboshi-and-red-shiso-rice-ball/
lang: en
journey: https://karigurashijourney.com/en/episodes/aridagawa-1/
---

# Umeboshi and red shiso rice ball

Cook the local flavors once more　/　Aridagawa, Wakayama

Wakayama grows more ume than any other prefecture in Japan: 58% of the national harvest in 2024 (64% the year before). I chopped Kishu umeboshi and mixed it into rice with red shiso.

## Ingredients

- Cooked rice
- Kishu umeboshi
- Red shiso

## How I made it

1. Take the umeboshi flesh off the pits and chop it
2. Mix the plum and red shiso into rice and press into balls

## This moment in the journey: Mehari-zushi, wrapped in takana

I folded the chopped takana into the rice and pressed it firmly into a ball, then wrapped it in a whole takana leaf. This is mehari-zushi, a traditional dish of Wakayama.

There are several stories behind the name. One says you open your mouth so wide to eat it that your eyes open wide too (me o haru). Another says the leaf seals the rice completely, like taping up a window (meba-ri). Folding in the edges of the leaf, I found myself agreeing with both.

It is said to have spread as a quick lunch for fishermen and foresters to eat between jobs. I also made rice balls mixed with umeboshi and red shiso, and set them out on a black plate.

![An umeboshi-and-shiso rice ball and mehari-zushi on a black plate](https://karigurashijourney.com/img/aridagawa-1/s36-1200.jpg)
- Sources: https://www.maff.go.jp/kinki/toukei/d/pdf/06_ume.pdf

Read this scene in the full journey: https://karigurashijourney.com/en/episodes/aridagawa-1/