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Japanese foods--tsukemono

torakris

By torakris
in Japan: Cooking & Baking

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torakris

torakris

Posted
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For me I am a takuan (pickled daikon) freak. I could make a meal just of rice and takuan.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

weinoo

weinoo

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I love the pickled daikon as well as the little carrots and eggplant. When I lived in San Jose, there was a great Japanese supermarket called Yaohan, that had an amazing assortment of pickels - and you could taste whatever you wanted before buying.

We always oder an assortment for an appetizer before sushi or noodles or whatever we're having for dinner that night.

While we're on this topic, anyone have some good recipes for oshinko?

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

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torakris

torakris

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While we're on this topic, anyone have some good recipes for oshinko?

What kind of oshinko are you thinking about?

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

cherrypi

cherrypi

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I like just about any Japanese pickle: takuan, hakusai, umeboshi, even this packaged pickled cucumber that my mother used to buy, called "Kyuuri no Q-chan" (is it still around?). Just give me some nori and some rice to go with the pickles, and I'm a happy camper.

torakris

torakris

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Yes kyuuri no Q chan (this is a cucumber that is sliced then pickled often with sort of a green- brown dye added, these are very cheap pickles popular with kids) is still around, maybe I am keeping them in business! :biggrin:

My husband doesn't really care for any types of tsukemono/oshinko (generic names for a variety of Japnese pickles), but I can't eat curry rice with out my fujinzuke( a mixture of various veggies, cuke, daikon, lotus root, eggplat dyed a deep red) and rakkyo (tiny pickled onions, usually a sweet & spicy flavor but also salt or soy sauce). I also keep benishoga (pickled ginger dyed deep pink and julienned) in the house at all times to go on okonomiyaki (Japanese savory pancake), yakisoba (stir fried noodles), or Chinese cold noodles (hiyashi chukka).

I love the pickle section of Japanese dept stores and can walk around all day sampling things, once I splurged and spent something like $15 on this little tub of pickled garlic (that I scarfed down in about 2 minutes!)

I rarely make pickles (except kimchi but that isn't Japanese anyway) because my husband doesn't care for it, but I make a wonderful daikon and yuzu (Japanese citron?) pickle that never makes it to the dinner table because daughter #2 and I snack on it all day long!

Edited by torakris (log)

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

Jinmyo

Jinmyo

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The story about takuan.

Takuan Soho zenji (1573 - 1645) was visited by a daimyo (lord) who expected a meal and tea. Zen Master Takuan seated the daimyo in the main room of his hermitage and served him tea and then left the room.

After a few hours he returned to find the daimyo yelling and threatening him.

"You're hungry?" Takuan asked.

"Of course I'm hungry!" the daimyo shouted.

Takuan left the room and came back with a pot of rice and a bowl of stinky yellowed daikon pickles. The daimyo ate several bowls of rice and all of the stinky pickles.

"That's the best meal I've ever had," the daimyo exclaimed.

Takuan zenji said, "Hunger is the best sauce."

I love takuan pickles.

And gari.

But my next favourite is kimchee, a Korean pickle.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

torakris

torakris

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One interesting note about the bright yellow takuan sold in the US (don't know about other countries) is that they are rarely dyed that color in Japan. Now they are much more commonly sold with out dyes.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

Jinmyo

Jinmyo

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One interesting note about the bright yellow takuan sold in the US (don't know about other countries) is that they are rarely dyed that color in Japan. Now they are much more commonly sold with out dyes.

Yes, the dye is really bright. The daikon pickled with rice bran is more the original colour, though not flavour.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

Akiko

Akiko

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I love takuan... especially the one that is super crunchy with a little shiso flavour added to it.

I also love fukushinzuke and can eat mounds of it with japanese curry.

I also like the umeboshi with the honey in it... mmm, can sit there with the jar and eat them by themselves as if a bag of potato chips.... very hard to find that kind out side of Japan though... anyone know of a source?

Akiko

Amedama on the Go Go!
torakris

torakris

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I also like the umeboshi with the honey in it... mmm, can sit there with the jar and eat them by themselves as if a bag of potato chips.... very hard to find that kind out side of Japan though... anyone know of a source?

Akiko

I love the hachimitsu (honey) umeboshi.

Sorry I don't know of any sources out of Japane though.

Have you ever eaten the seed inside the seed of the umeboshi?

These are especially good with the larger honey umeboshi, you crack open the seed with a nut cracker and remove and eat the soft seed inside. Think amaretto, absolutely wonderful!

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

  • 3 weeks later...
margaret

margaret

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Q-chan! During the deepest stages of the obsession, I used to chop them up and roll them with rice into onigiri. I think I overdid it a bit, though - they don't hold the same appeal they once had.

The eternal favorite, though, is probably takana (mustard leaf). Takana fried rice. A little bit of nori, some sesame oil. Getting hungry just thinking about it. On lazier days, just a big heap of takana and a big bowl of cold rice, a bite of each.

Lately I've also been eating a lot of yamagobo (don't know what it's called in English), but they're kind of pricey here, unfortunately.

I'd like to learn more about Indian pickles, but don't even know where to start.

torakris

torakris

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My husband and I make our own rakkyou, though he likes them salt pickled and I like them with vinegar. Occasionally I will pick up some of the red wine pickled ones, those are really wonderful!

I also love nozawa-na, I could eat an entire package in one sitting, sorry no idea of the English name.

I love takana cha-han (fried rice) though.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

helenjp

helenjp

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shiba-zuke...I like it so much that I also make a homemade quick version using eggplant cut thin and tossed into salted water with soy sauce added along with a couple of cucumbers cut thin, a pack of shiso leaves shredded, some shredded myoga and maybe ginger, and put under weights,and then drained and squeezed, ready to eat.

Regards

Helenjp

* Pickles foodblog

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  • 1 month later...
torakris

torakris

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Tsukemono (tsuke= pickle mono=thing) is the broad category of pickles, encompassing the following:

shio-zuke-- salt pickling,these are usually quick pickles made with just salt, can be used with cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, eggplant, etc (these are what is usually meant by oshinko)

nuka-zuke--rice bran pickles, vegetables are placed in tubs of rice bran for hours to days depending on the type, takuan (sometimes yellow colored pickled radish) is one of the most common of this type.

nukamiso-zuke--pickled in rice bran mash, the picjkling matter iswetter then the dry rice bran pickles above

miso-zuke--vegetables pickled in miso

su-zuke-- pickled in vinegar

umeboshi--pickled plums

senmai-zuke--a special turnip pickle made with konbu

plus many, many others

Oshinko is just the generic name for the pickles that you receive with your rice bowl, usually of the shio-zuke variety but occasionally nuka-zuke.

I moved this from the sumono thread, so we don't completely confuse everybody! :biggrin:

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

torakris

torakris

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One of my favorite pickles in rakkyo (a type of onion).

I prefer the su-zuke (vinegared) version, while my husband likes the shio-zuke (salt version), a new type of rakkyo becoming quite popular in Japan right now is a version "pickled" in red wine.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

Jinmyo

Jinmyo

Posted
Posted
One of my favorite pickles in rakkyo (a type of onion).

I prefer the su-zuke (vinegared) version, while my husband likes the shio-zuke (salt version), a new type of rakkyo becoming quite popular in Japan right now is a version "pickled" in red wine.

Rakkyo are great. They are like shallots in appearance and flavour but a bit softer in texture. I like grilling them with lamb.

Is there a name specifically for shio-zuke rakkyo, Kristin?

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

BON

BON

Posted
Posted
Rakkyo are great. They are like shallots in appearance and flavour but a bit softer in texture. I like grilling them with lamb.

Is there a name specifically for shio-zuke rakkyo, Kristin?

I think Rakkyo and shallots (eschalot) are exactly the same stuff.

I have never seen shiozuke Rakkyo. Kristin will answer your qustion.

More about info. on Rakkyo, Rakkyo comes along with curry and rice

in Japan. I am serious! :laugh:

torakris

torakris

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Is there a name specifically for shio-zuke rakkyo, Kristin?

Theya re just called shio rakkyo, and they aren't that popular so I buy them whenever I run across them.

My husband sometimes makes his own.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

smallworld

smallworld

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Anybody ever try making your own shiozuke? It looks so easy and I'd love to try it.

I'd ask about your husband's rakkyo recipe, Torakris, but unfortunately my husband can't eat rakkyo.

I think the red wine rakkyo you mentioned was endorsed by Mino Monta last year as cleaning the blood or something, so I rushed out (along with every other housewife in my neighborhood) and managed to find one package of regular rakkyo which I simply soaked in red wine for a while. My husband was a good sport but could only eat one, saying they were even worse than regular rakkyo. He was right...

But it's amazing, isn't it, how powerful Mino Monta is!

My eGullet foodblog: Spring in Tokyo

My regular blog: Blue Lotus

torakris

torakris

Posted
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Anybody ever try making your own shiozuke? It looks so easy and I'd love to try it.

I'd ask about your husband's rakkyo recipe, Torakris, but unfortunately my husband can't eat rakkyo.

I think the red wine rakkyo you mentioned was endorsed by Mino Monta last year as cleaning the blood or something, so I rushed out (along with every other housewife in my neighborhood) and managed to find one package of regular rakkyo which I simply soaked in red wine for a while. My husband was a good sport but could only eat one, saying they were even worse than regular rakkyo. He was right...

But it's amazing, isn't it, how powerful Mino Monta is!

I make shiozuke from hakusai (napa cabbage) and it is quite easy.

I also salt my cucumbers before using them with almost everything, I guess that is a shiozuke.

I tried an eggplant shiozuke once but didn't care for it.

search out the real red wine ones, they are much milder then regular rakkyo and are really good!

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

  • 4 weeks later...
torakris

torakris

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well it is coming into rakkyo making season, so I picked up some raw rakkyo (the name of the vegetable and well as the pickle, so it can be confusing), already cleaned and trimmed of course! :biggrin:

and I am planning to make 1kg of the red wine rakkyo, I will keep you posted as to how they are and then posting a recipe if they work out ok.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

  • 2 weeks later...
torakris

torakris

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I tried them a couple of days ago and they were quite good.

They are supposed to sit for 10 days and I will hit that in about 2 more.

when I tried them they were still a little too wine-y.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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