Blood orange season is here!
And so is the new year: Happy New Year! My first recipe of 2024 is all about blood oranges – ’tis the season, and I’m loving it. My go-to for the season is a classic fennel and blood orange salad – it’s just perfect with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and some flaky salt! As the season goes on, I do however think of ways to jazz up this beloved combo. You know, add a little twist to spice things up! This year, I decided to dress my salad with some salty and tangy umeboshi – an ingredient I adore as much as blood oranges!
You can grab the recipe for my umeboshi salad dressing and the fennel and orange salad with kalamata olives at the bottom of the blog post!
Or: click here for a shortcut!
Blood oranges and Fennel = match made in heaven
I’m all about that fennel and blood orange combo, it’s a classic that never gets old. But sometimes I’m in the mood for a little change. I might switch out the fennel for some endive, beets, carrots, asparagus, cabbage, or even avocado. And those blood oranges? I might swap them for a grapefruit, a pomelo, or a sweetie. But no matter what I try, I always end up back with fennel and blood orange. There’s just something so perfect about the sweet, fresh fennel with the tangy blood orange!
This year’s twist to the forever wonderful fennel and blood orange salad is a umeboshi salad dressing. For a moment I thought I had come up with something “new” here! After digging through my own recipe archives however, I realized that I have actually combined umeboshi and blood oranges before… Oh well. When you’ve been writing a food blog for over 10 years, you can’t always remember everything you’ve done! Besides, fennel wasn’t part of the equation then. (The recipe in question was a purple sweet potato and blood orange salad with a cranberry dressing. I won’t link the post here, since it’s only published in Finnish.) Sooooooo maybe I can call this idea new anyway?
Anyhow, it’s about time the funky and bright umeboshi dressing gets a dedicated blog post.
Umeboshi?
Umeboshi is a Japanese pickle made from salted ume fruits aka Japanese apricots, seasoned with red shiso. Umeboshi has an intensely salty, sour, and tangy taste and a soft, juicy texture. They have really a strong flavor, so if you eat them as they are, you might settle for just a few (followed by a little grimace). I personally love umeboshi, as well as the salty ume su pickling liquid, that is a by-product of their preparation. And when I eat them I do grimace too, but it’s an expression of joy!
I’m actually dreaming about making umeboshi myself – especially after I somewhat successfully imitated the wonderful umeshu liqueur, using tart green plums instead of the ume. They are unfortunately not sold here in Finland. Maybe the same plums could replace the Japanese apricots in this case as well? (The instructions for making umeboshi can be found on the excellent Just One Cookbook blog!)
Umeboshi salad dressing
Ume su is salty and tangy, just like umeboshi, and I actually often use it as a vegan alternative to fish sauce! However, my umeboshi salad dressing doesn’t contain ume su, but umeboshi. I chop them up into tiny bits so as you eat, you get these intense pops of ume goodness here and there. But I suppose you could also blend them into the sauce 🙂 I’m thinking this salad dressing is a kind of vinaigrette – it’s just that the acidity comes from umeboshi instead of vinegar.
The recipe doesn’t require much salt, as umeboshi are already quite salty. In order to achieve a pleasant balance of flavors, the umeboshi dressing does need a bit of sweetness too. For me this usually means agave syrup, but runny honey works too. Why not maple syrup as well? The dressing also includes blood orange juice, finely chopped shallots and plenty of roughly ground black pepper. The olive oil I use is also rather peppery! It comes from a Sicilian organic farm Bosco Falconeria. I absolutely love this green unfiltered extra virgin olive oil! It’s a good thing it came in a three liter package…
Umeboshi salad dressing with a blood orange and fennel salad
Ingredients
Umeboshi salad dressing:
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3-4 tbsp blood orange juice
- 4-6 umeboshi
- 2 tbsp agave syrup (or runny honey / maple syrup)
- 2 tbsp finely minced shallot (about half a small shallot)
- ½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper
- salt to taste / as needed
Fennel and blood orange salad:
- 3 blood oranges
- 1 small fennel
- ½ small shallot
- 10-15 kalamata olives (pitted)
Notes:
Instructions
Fennel and blood orange salad:
- Cut off the blood orange peels and the white pith with a sharp knife, making sure to gather all the juices (work over a bowl for instance!) for the umeboshi salad dressing. Cut the blood oranges to bite sized pieces.
- Remove any dry parts of the fennel. Remove the green fronds (to be used in serving) and thinly slice the fennel. Cut each kalamata olive in quarters. Thinly slice the shallot, reserving the other half for the dressing.
- Plate up the salad by layering all the ingredients on a serving platter or on individual plates, adding the green fennel fronds on top.
Umeboshi salad dressing:
- Remove the pits from the umeboshi and finely mince them with a knife. Finely mince the shallot. Mix all the ingredients, adjust the taste as needed, and spoon the dressing over the salad!
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