Asian Red Plum Salsa

The vegetarian tacos and their sauces were nearing completion. I had already made the Avocado-Chimichurri Sauce and the Black Bean and Corn Salsa. What I wanted now was something with a little sweetness and a bit of a kick … something to complement the Argentine and Mexican flavours I was already combining. And I was feeling experimental ….

The inspiration came from the ripe, juicy red plums I saw in the market. They would provide the perfect ‘sweetness’ but I also saw in them ‘Asian’ flavours. The question was: could I combine Asian with South American and make this work? The answer was a surprising and unequivocal YES.

What makes this dish Asian-influenced, beyond the plums, are two very Asian ingredients: roasted sesame oil and Umeboshi vinegar (aka: Ume-Su). You likely know sesame oil but the Umeboshi vinegar may be new to some of you. What is it? It’s ‘plum vinegar’ and beyond the fact that it is made from plums, it’s also a seasoned vinegar that tastes salty. This is the reason this dish has no added salt in it. These two ingredients definitely infuse unusual tastes into the salsa, but if you want to keep this salsa more mainstream, omit the oil and use lime juice instead of the vinegar.

While this is also a dish that can easily be prepared in advance, because of the extra juices in this from the ripe fruit, it needs significantly less time to sit and you could easily make this 30 minutes before serving.

Serve with Vegetarian Tacos with Grilled Zucchini.

Prep time:   10 minutes
Cook time:  N/A
Total time:  10 minutes
Servings:    10

Asian Red Plum Salsa

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 ripe red plums, coarsely chopped
• 1 ripe nectarine, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cucumber, peeled
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper, , coarsely chopped
• 1½ tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 1/2 jalapeño, seeded and finely dicely
• 1 tablespoon chives (or green onion), diced
• 2 teaspoons Umeboshi (plum) vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon roasted sesame oil
• 1/2 tablespoon cider vinegar
• pinch of ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon of agave syrup (to taste, depending on the sweetness of the fruit)

DIRECTIONS:

Coarsely chop the fruit and veggies and add them to a medium-sized glass bowl. Mix in the cilantro, jalapeño, Umeboshi, sesame oil, and pepper. Taste for sweetness and add a teaspoon of agave syrup, one at a time until desired sweetness is reached.

Let sit on counter for 30 minutes and serve with Vegetarian Tacos with Grilled Zucchini.

Alternatively, serve this along with grilled chicken or fish as a side.