Nukazuke
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is a type of traditional Japanese preserved food, made by fermenting vegetables in rice
bran Bran, also known as miller's bran, is the component of a Cereal, cereal grain consisting of the hard layersthe combined aleurone and Fruit anatomy#Pericarp layers, pericarpsurrounding the endosperm. Maize, Corn (maize) bran also includes the p ...
(nuka), developed in the 17th century."The Japan Times - Pickle your own veggies with traditional Japanese nukadoko"
/ref> Almost any vegetable may be preserved using this technique, although some common varieties include celery,
eggplant Eggplant (American English, US, Canadian English, CA, Australian English, AU, Philippine English, PH), aubergine (British English, UK, Hiberno English, IE, New Zealand English, NZ), brinjal (Indian English, IN, Singapore English, SG, Malays ...
s, daikon,
cabbage Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of '' Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.& ...
, carrots, and
cucumber The cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the family Cucurbitaceae that bears cylindrical to spherical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.sardine Sardine and pilchard are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring suborder Clupeoidei. The term "sardine" was first used in English during the early 15th century; a somewhat dubious etymology says it com ...
, mackerel, puffer fish
roe Roe, ( ) or hard roe, is the fully ripe internal egg masses in the ovaries, or the released external egg masses, of fish and certain marine animals such as shrimp, scallop, sea urchins and squid. As a seafood, roe is used both as a cooking, c ...
, or Japanese horse mackerel. Pickles are an important part of Japanese diet, often eaten at the end of a meal and are said to aid in digestion. The lactic acid bacteria in nukazuke are probiotics that aid the intestinal flora. These bacteria are also responsible for producing folate and vitamin B12 in nukazuke. Further, since nukazuke absorb nutrients from the rice bran, they are high in vitamin B1, which helped prevent beri-beri in 17th century Edo (present-day Tokyo). Traditionally, Japanese cedar tubs (''oke'') were used for fermenting pickles; today, ceramic or plastic containers are more common.


Preparation

Nukazuke involves a traditional style of pickling using a mash made of dry rice bran and brine. Vegetables that are often used are cucumbers, daikon, eggplant, carrot and turnips. These are completely buried in the mash and can be left for one day (for a quick pickle) or for five or more days to enrich the flavor, although the mash and vegetables must be turned every day. Traditionally, this is done with the bare hands. Rice bran is first mixed in a crock with
salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...
,
kombu ''Konbu'' (from ) is edible kelp mostly from the family Laminariaceae and is widely eaten in East Asia. It may also be referred to as ''dasima'' () or ''haidai'' (). Kelp features in the diets of many civilizations, including Chinese and Icela ...
seaweed, and water. Additional ingredients—like
ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...
,
beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...
,
sake Sake, , or saki, also referred to as Japanese rice wine, is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indeed any East Asi ...
, chiles,
garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...
, persimmon or
apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
peels, or powdered
mustard seed Mustard seeds are the small round seeds of various mustard plants. The seeds are usually about in diameter and may be colored from yellowish white to black. They are an important spice in many regional foods and may come from one of three diff ...
—may be added as well. These ingredients contribute to the unique flavor of the nukazuke, but also help start
fermentation Fermentation is a type of anaerobic metabolism which harnesses the redox potential of the reactants to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and organic end products. Organic molecules, such as glucose or other sugars, are catabolized and reduce ...
and prevent the growth of unwanted microorganisms. The resultant mash, called nukamiso or nukadoko, has a consistency comparable to wet sand or cooked grits. Unless an established nuka sample is used to seed a fresh batch, the ubiquitous
lactic acid Lactic acid is an organic acid. It has the molecular formula C3H6O3. It is white in the solid state and it is miscible with water. When in the dissolved state, it forms a colorless solution. Production includes both artificial synthesis as wel ...
-producing colonies crucial to the fermentation process must come from sources such as the skin of the starter vegetables or from human hands. Vegetable scraps, apple peels, or persimmon peels are added to the nuka-bed every day for at least a few days until a fermenting culture has been established. At this point, nuka-bed is ‘live,’ meaning that it contains a culture of active single-celled organisms, mostly lactobacilli and
yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom (biology), kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are est ...
. Although nukazuke can be made from scratch, a bit of well seasoned nuka from an older batch is often used to ‘seed’ a fresh batch. When rice bran cannot be found, alternatives such as wheat bran or even cornflakes have been reported to work well. The nuka-bed must be stirred well daily to keep it from becoming putrescent, moldy or infested with vermin. The acidity, salt content and oxygenation provided by daily stirring keeps toxic microbes from growing in the bed. It is universally recommended that this daily stirring be done with clean bare hands. Depending on the size of the container used, the nuka-bed could be stored temporarily in the fridge for up to two weeks, when daily stirring is not possible. Once the fermenting cultures have been established, the nuka-bed usually develops a complex unique aroma that may be described as anything from "yeasty" to "earthy". At this point the starter vegetables (scraps, peels, etc.) are discarded and pickling vegetables are buried in the bed for as little as a few hours to as long as several months for very strong flavor. Some sources recommend a maximum pickling time of one month. Others suggest that pickles can be left for years in a well-kept nuka-bed. Unpleasant smells such as a "sour" or "stinky" aroma may indicate a problem with the nuka-bed. Additional amounts of rice bran and salt are added from time to time, and some recommend discarding portions of the old nuka to make way for the new. Water is usually provided by the vegetables buried in the bed. With proper maintenance, nuka-beds can be kept indefinitely and are often passed down from generation to generation. Old nuka-beds are valued for their nuanced flavor. Because the process depends on colonies of live organisms, flavors and smells can vary considerably from day to day and the fermenting process slows in colder weather. When ready, nukazuke pickles are removed from the bed, washed in cool clean water, sliced and served as a side to savory meals. Sometimes weights made of metal, stone or jugs of water are used the keep the nuka-bed under pressure, drawing water from the vegetables and speeding fermentation. Nuka-beds are known to acquire subtle flavors from the surrounding environment and thus should not be stored in musty areas. Takuan (pickled daikon) is also one variation of nukazuke. Traditional takuan uses sun-dried daikon, however, mass production takuan are often prepared with sugar to cut pickling time.


See also

* *


References

* Katz, Sandor Ellix. ''Wild fermentation,'' Chelsea Green, 2003. * Tsuji, Shizuo. ''Japanese cooking: a simple art,'' Kodansha International, 1980.


External links


How to Make Nukazuke: Nukadoko Pickling Bed
February 15, 2009 by Kyoto Foodie
Nukazuke: Japanese Rice Bran Pickles
April 24, 2009, Wandering Spoon * https://web.archive.org/web/20031128033242/http://ytoshi.cool.ne.jp/best_friends32/study/cl/food/pickles/pickles1.htm * http://www.theblackmoon.com/Jfood/ftsuke.html * http://joi.ito.com/archives/1999/04/04/nukamiso_guide_version_14.html * http://joi.ito.com/archives/2005/06/20/nukamiso_redux.html {{Japanese food and drink Japanese pickles