4/17/2008

The most common Japanese pickle we know off are Umeboshi which is a plum pickle often served with rice and gari, pickled ginger used as palate cleansers to accompany sushis and sashimis. Japanese pickles are different from the western pickles which uses vinegar as a preservative agent. Also, ingredients used in picking in the west seems a little more palatable than the ingredients used in Japanese pickles.

In Japan, pickling does not stop at fruits and vegetables, pickling goes way out to rice bran, soybean to even fish. The purpose of tsukemonos is to offer color, texture and aroma to meals in Japan. It is even a good appetizer to start the meal with. The most common ingredient used for pickling in Japan are soy sauce, miso, vinegar, rice bran (nuka), salt, brines and sake lees (sake kasu).

Read here for more info about Tsukemono

I found a really nice website that offers some good recipes to start you off with making your own Japanese pickles. There are three recipes (all vegetarian) of pickling used in the site and they are Salt pickling, rice bran pickling and miso pickling that you can use.

Here’s one of the recipes to check out:

KYABETSU TO NINJIN NO ASAZUKE (pickled cabbage and carrot)

1 small head of regular cabbage (3/4 pound),
the leaves cut into pieces about an inch square
1 medium sized carrot, cut into matchstick slices about an inch long
1 Japanese cucumber, unpeeled and cut into matchstick
slices about an inch long
4 tablespoons of salt

Method:
Place vegetable slices into the pickle press (or jar) and add one teaspoon of salt, mix well by stirring with your hands. Add the second teaspoon of salt and mix again. Add the final tablespoon of salt and mix well. Clamp on the top of the pickle press and screw down the lid until it pushes down tightly on the top layer of vegetables. Leave under pressure overnight or for at least 10 hours. Remove the pickles from the press and place them in a colander, wash them well to remove salt, pat them dry and serve.