sei012019 (Do You Know Your Taukemono? A Guide to Japanese Pickles | Serious Eats
Do You Know Your Tsukemono? A Guide to Japanese
Pickles
MIKI KAWASAKI
It's often said that a Japanese meal is built around three core
foods: rice, soup, and pickles, Rice, plain and filing, is the main
staple, so significant to the national cuisine that scarcely a meal
goes by without it. Soup, miso-enhanced or otherwise,
provides the comforts of umami—the appeal ofa rich dashi
broth is easy to understand. But pickles, in contrast, are alittle
less straightforward in their virtues. Tart, pungent, and often
imbued with funky overtones, they are best enjoyed in small
bites. In the context of the larger meal, they practically traverse
the boundary between side dish and condiment.
Japanese pickles—known collectively as tsukemono—can
easily go unnoticed as part of a washoku (traditional Japanese)
meal. Yet they've rightfully earned their place as a cornerstone food because they serve an important purpose: Japanese
food culture is heavily influenced by principles of balance handed down from kaiseki (the national haute cuisine). These
principles suggest that a meal should contain a variety of colors, flavors, and cooking methods while taking into account
sensory and aesthetic considerations. Tsukemono help create this harmony. They cleanse the palate and provide
piquancy to counter the heaviness of umami-rich foods, Available in a number of bright hues, they also help fulfil the
general rule that a meal should contain five colors: black, red, green, white, and yellow, And although they are altered by
the processes of pickling, tsukemono are still considered to be raw. Think of them as salads with the added benefits of
lactic-acid fermentation.
(One further quality of tsukemono is that they are very much “transformed” foods, altered by the processes of pickling to
‘the point where they barely resemble the fresh produce from which they are made. Many of the them are colorful and
visually attractive, but hard to identify if you aren't intimately familiar with Japanese cuisine. It's entirely possible that
you've had noodles topped with bright red beni shoga or curry rice with a side of chutney-like fukujinzuke and not quite
known what those tangy bits and pieces were.
To guide you on your future travels through the world of traditional Japanese cuisine, we've pulled together some of the
‘tsukemono you might encounter and the dishes they're typically served with, While this list hardly represents the full
range of pickles you can find in Japan—there are countless varieties and regional specialties—you're likely to find these
served with many of the the more well-known Japanese dishes, and even available for purchase in many Asian grocery
stores.
Gari
Gariis probably the most widely known tsukemono because itis often served as a palate cleanser alongside sushi, The
best gari is made with young ginger, which is naturally pink-hued around the edges—when brined, the slices take on that
distinctive blushing color. Most commercial versions, however, use mature ginger, which is either left tan or dyed red with
shiso leaf or artificial colorants,
How
's made: Thinly:
few hours to a couple weeks.
ed ginger is pickled in an amazuke marinade of sugat, salt, and rice vinegar for anywhere from a
How it tastes: Clean and grassy, with sweet and peppery notes.
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Serve it with: Sushi and sashimi or fried rice; the brine also
makes. suitable dressing for salads and vegetables.
Takuan
Takuanis a crunchy daikon pickle named for the Zen monk
credited with ts invention. It's distinguished by its bright yellow
color, which can be achieved through the cultivation of bacillus
‘subtilis bacteria during fermentation, heightened by the
addition of persimmon peels, nasturtium flowers, or other
coloring agents,
How it's made: Daikon is sun-dried and salted before being
placed in a container with nukadoko, a rice bran-based
fermenting medium rich in bacillus subtilis. It's then left to sit for
anywhere froma few weeks toa few months.
How it tastes: Mildly tart and citrusy witha slight funk,
‘Servet with: Plain rice, in bento boxes, and in maki olls, either
nits own or with fatty tuna. It's also popular in Korea (where it's known as danmuji, appearing inside kimbap rolls or with
ijaiangmyun (black bean noodles).
Umeboshi
Umeboshiare pickled plums known for their bracing saltiness
and acidity—they're so strong, they've been said to corrode
aluminum lunch boxes. That intensity lends itself well toa
number of handy uses. Samurai prized them as a means of,
combatting fatigue on the battlefield, ikely because of the
‘welcome jolt to the senses they provided. Even today, they're
recommended as a morning pick-me-up, defense against
aging, cure for nausea, and remedy for hangovers.
How it's made: Umeboshi making is associated with June,
when both Asian plums and red shiso (whichis used to color
them) are ready to be harvested. They are potted with salt
under a heavy weight during the summer rainy season (late
June and July), exuding a briny liquid called umezu. Once the
hot, dry days of August roll around, the umeboshi are allowed a few days to dry out in the sun, They are then repotted
with a bit of the umezu and stored for a year or longer before eating,
How it tastes: Piercingly sour and salty, witha fleshy texture.
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Serve it with: Onigit (rice balls wrapped in nori); in bento boxes, an umeboshi placed in the center of a bed of plain rice is.
calleda hinomaru, after the name for the Japanese flag; they can also be puréed into a paste, which makes a great maki
roll filing with mountain yam and shiso leaf.
Pickles | Serious Eats
Beni Shoga
‘There's a strong ethos throughout Japanese cooking of
recycling ingredients and creating as little waste as possible.
Beni shoga, bright red slivers of ginger, are one such example of
ingredient reuse. They are made with umezu, the leftover brine
from making umebeshi. Although some commercial varieties
get their color from the added boost of artificial dyes,
homemade beni shoga can turn a mesmerizing hue simply from
the addition of the red shiso-tinted umezu.
How it's made: Ginger is julienned and left to brine in umezu for
anywhere from a few hours to a few days.
How it tastes: Zesty with a concentrated ginger flavor.
Serve it with: Tonkotsu ramen, okonomiyaki, yakisoba.
Shibazuke
specialty of Kyoto, shibazuke is a mix of chopped cucumbers
and eggplant that has been salted and brined
has a stunning purple-magenta hue that renders the vegetable
pieces nearly unrecognizable from their original forms.
red shiso. It
How it's made: Historic recipes call for brining shibazuke for up
‘toa year, but generally the pickles are made by letting them sit.
in salt until most of the liquid has leeched from the vegetable
and the color has permeated throughout, which takes about a
month.
How it tastes: Crunchy, crisp, and acidic, with a strong herbal
note from shiso.
Serve it with: Plain rice, or with a few other tsukemono as a
palate cleanser between bites.
Kyurizuke
Long, firm Japanese cucumbers, which have fewer and smaller seeds than their Western counterparts, are used to make
many different types of tsukemono, These include cucumber pickles made with rice bran or miso, as well as asazuke,
lightly seasoned quick pickles. One cucumber tsukemono you're likely to find in Japanese grocery stores is aokyurizuke,
whichis marinated in soy sauce.
How it's made: Japanese cucumbers are
shrunk considerably and havea firm crunch
1ed ina mix of soy sauce, salt, and sugar for one to two weeks until they have
How it tastes: Savory and salty, with a deep soy sauce flavor.
Serve it with: Donbur' (rice bowls topped with meat), or in ochazuke (a dish made by pouring green tea over rice}.
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