Plums — season, tips, and recipes in New Zealand
Plums is a fruit available in New Zealand during December, January, February, March, peaking in January, February. This page is a practical guide for home cooks: when to buy plums, how to pick a good one, how to store it, what it goes well with, three original recipes, and detailed nutrition information.
NZ varieties include Billington, Black Doris (a NZ favourite for jam), Omega, and Luisa. Hawke's Bay and Central Otago are the main regions.
How to pick a good one
Should give slightly when pressed gently. Whitish bloom on the skin is natural and indicates freshness.
How to store it
Ripen on bench, then refrigerate. Eat within a few days of ripening.
Goes well with
cinnamon: Plum and cinnamon is a jam-making pairing that's survived centuries. Cinnamon's warmth amplifies plum's deep, slightly resinous sweetness. Together they taste more autumnal than either alone.
star anise: Star anise and plum is a Chinese cooking pairing. The liquorice notes of star anise sit comfortably against plum's tart, dark sweetness and are commonly used in braised pork with plum.
ginger: Ginger's sharpness cuts through plum's heavy sweetness, particularly in preserved and cooked forms. The combination is the basis of most good plum chutneys.
pork: Plum's acidity and tannins cut through pork fat in the same way apple does, but with more complexity and sweetness. Hoisin sauce is essentially a plum-based condiment designed for exactly this purpose.
Recipes
Roasted Plums with Vanilla
Dessert in 15 minutes.
Ingredients: 6 plums, 2 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, knob of butter
Method: Halve and stone plums. Place cut-side up in dish. Dot with butter, sugar, vanilla. Roast 200C for 15 min. Serve with yoghurt or ice cream.
Plum Crumble
The autumn backup plan.
Ingredients: 6 plums, 1 tbsp sugar, 80g oats, 60g flour, 60g brown sugar, 50g cold butter, pinch cinnamon
Method: Halve and stone plums into dish. Sprinkle sugar. Rub oats, flour, sugar, butter, cinnamon until crumbly. Top. Bake 180C for 25 min.
Quick Plum Jam
No special equipment. 20 minutes.
Ingredients: 500g plums (halved stoned), 250g sugar, 1 lemon (juice)
Method: Simmer plums with sugar and lemon, stirring often, for 20 minutes until thick. Test: a spoonful on a cold plate should wrinkle when pushed. Jar while hot.
Nutrition
Two plums provide 20% of your daily vitamin C and 10% of your vitamin K. Contain chlorogenic acid, an antioxidant also found in coffee. Dried plums (prunes) are one of the highest antioxidant foods and support digestive health. About 30 calories per plum.