are a type of Japanese
pickle

Tsukemono

are Japanese pickles. They are served with rice as okazu with drinks as an otsumami , as an accompaniment to or garnish for meals, and as a course in the kaiseki portion of a Japanese tea ceremony....

, made by fermenting vegetables in rice bran

Bran

Bran is the hard outer layer of grain and consists of combined aleurone and pericarp. Along with germ, it is an integral part of whole grains, and is often produced as a by-product of milling in the production of refined grains. When bran is removed from grains, the grains lose a portion of their...

 (nuka). Almost any edible vegetable may be pickled through this technique,
though traditional varieties include eggplant, Japanese radish (daikon

Daikon

Daikon , Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus, also called White Radish, Japanese radish, Oriental radish, Chinese radish, lo bok and Mooli , is a mild flavoured, very large, white East Asian radish...

),
cabbage

Cabbage

Cabbage is a popular cultivar of the species Brassica oleracea Linne of the Family Brassicaceae and is a leafy green vegetable...

, and cucumber

Cucumber

The cucumber is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, which includes squash, and in the same genus as the muskmelon. The plant is a creeping vine which bears cylindrical edible fruit when ripe. There are three main varieties of cucumber: "slicing", "pickling", and...

. The taste of nuka pickles can vary from pleasantly
tangy to very sour, salty and pungent. These pickles also retain their
crispness which adds to their popularity.

The nuka-bed is traditionally kept in a wooden crock but ceramic crocks or
even plastic buckets are also common. Many Japanese households have their
own nukazuke crocks which are faithfully stirred by hand every day. Due to
varying methods and recipes, flavors vary considerably not only from region
to region but also from household to household.

Pickles (tsukemono

Tsukemono

are Japanese pickles. They are served with rice as okazu with drinks as an otsumami , as an accompaniment to or garnish for meals, and as a course in the kaiseki portion of a Japanese tea ceremony....

) are an important staple of Japanese cuisine, and
nukazuke are one of the most popular kinds. They are often eaten at the end of a
meal and are said to aid in digestion. The lactobacillus

Lactobacillus

Lactobacillus is a genus of Gram-positive facultative anaerobic or microaerophilic rod-shaped bacteria. They are a major part of the lactic acid bacteria group, named as such because most of its members convert lactose and other sugars to lactic acid. They are common and usually benign...

 in nukazuke
pickles may be a beneficial supplement to the intestinal flora. They are
also high in vitamin B₁

Thiamine

Thiamine or thiamin or vitamin B1 , named as the "thio-vitamine" is a water-soluble vitamin of the B complex. First named aneurin for the detrimental neurological effects if not present in the diet, it was eventually assigned the generic descriptor name vitamin B1. Its phosphate derivatives are...

.

Preparation

Rice bran is first roasted, then mixed in a crock with salt, kombu

Kombu

Kombu or konbu , also called dashima or haidai , is edible kelp from the family Laminariaceae widely eaten in East Asia....

 seaweed,
and water. Some recipes call for ginger, miso

Miso

is a traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting rice, barley and/or soybeans, with salt and the fungus , the most typical miso being made with soy. The result is a thick paste used for sauces and spreads, pickling vegetables or meats, and mixing with dashi soup stock to serve as miso...

, beer or wine. The resultant
mash

Mashing

In brewing and distilling, mashing is the process of combining a mix of milled grain , known as the "grain bill", and water, known as "liquor", and heating this mixture...

, called nukamiso or nukadoko, has a consistency comparable to wet sand or cooked grits. Vegetables,
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

Yeast

Yeasts are eukaryotic micro-organisms classified in the kingdom Fungi, with 1,500 species currently described estimated to be only 1% of all fungal species. Most reproduce asexually by mitosis, and many do so by an asymmetric division process called budding...

. 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.

Unless an established nuka sample is used to seed a fresh batch, the
ubiquitous lactic acid

Lactic acid

Lactic acid, also known as milk acid, is a chemical compound that plays a role in various biochemical processes and was first isolated in 1780 by the Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele. Lactic acid is a carboxylic acid with the chemical formula C3H6O3...

-producing colonies crucial to the fermentation process must come
from sources such as the skin of the starter vegetables or from
human hands.

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". (unpleasant smells such as a "sour" or "stinky" aroma
may indicate a problem with the nuka-bed.) At this point the starter vegetables
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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Takuan

Takuan

, also known as takuwan or takuan-zuke, is a popular traditional Japanese pickle. It is made from daikon radish. In addition to being served alongside other types of tsukemono in traditional Japanese cuisine, takuan is also enjoyed at the end of meals as it is thought to aid digestion.Takuan is...

(pickled daikon) are a related food which is often confused with
nukazuke. However, takuan are often prepared with sugar and are left to sit
rather than stirred daily.

Ginger, beer, orange seeds, persimmon peels or apple peels can be added to
the nuka-bed for flavor.

Dried chili-peppers and/or fresh garlic are often added either for flavor,
to keep the bed from becoming wormy, or to keep fermentation in check.

When rice bran cannot be found, alternatives such as wheat bran or even
cornflakes have been reported to work well.

External links

• How to Make Nukazuke: Nukadoko Pickling Bed, February 15th, 2009 by Kyoto Foodie
• http://pickles.wanderingspoon.com/?p=122
• 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