74 GOURMET TRAVELLER
F
orthepastsixyears,
I’vemadeanannual
pilgrimagetoJapan
and,overthattime,
I’vedevelopeda specialloveof
tsukemono,orJapanesepickles.
Whilepicklesarefoundin
manycountries,forme,noone
makesthemquiteliketheydoin
Japan.Tsukemonoareuniquein
theirdiversityandtechnique,and
formany,a mealisn’t complete
without them.Ofallthedifferentmediums
forpickle-making,nukazuke,
madebyfermentingvegetables
ina branbedcalleda nukadoko,
is a clearfavourite.Thepickle,
whichis madewithoutvinegar,
is distinctivelycrunchy,salty
andsour,withwonderfulearthy,
umamiundertones.It’salsoan
easyprocessoncethebedhasbeen
established,andtheresultingpickle
is notonlydelicious,but packed
with good bacteria.Fermentingina nukadoko
datesbacktoJapan’sEdoperiod
(17thcentury)andwasbornas a
waytousetheby-product(bran)
fromtherice-polishingprocess
whenmakingsake.Thisbranis
mixedwithseasaltandwaterto
forma pastelikewetsand,then
inoculatedwithlactobacillus,a
bacteriathatoccursnaturallyonthe
outerskinsofvegetables.Asthese
bacteriamultiply,thenukadoko
becomesmoreacidicand,inturn,
picklesanyvegetablesinit.Flavours
canalsobeadded– thinkseaweed,
spices,gingerandchilli.
Classicvegetablespickledin
nukadokoareeggplant,turnipand
cucumber,butI’mcurrentlyloving
beetroot,radishandcarrot.An
activebedwillpicklea radishor
cucumberinas littleas sixhours,
anddenservegetables,a beetroot
ora turnip,say,inuptofivedays.
Thelongerthevegetablesareleft
inthenukadoko,thestrongerthe
flavour.InJapan,themostfamous
nukazukeis takuan,madewith
air-drieddaikonandagedforup
totwoyears.Fishandmeatare
alsofermentedina nukadoko,
mostnotablyinnarezushi(the
precursortomodern-daysushi)
aroundlakeBiwa.
Mynukadokois alwaysfilled
withonevegetableoranotherand
hasbeengoingfor 18 months.
Thestarter,however,camefrom
myfriend,Yoshihiro,inKyoto.He
gothisfroma friend,whorunsan
izakaya,whogotit froma 400-year-
oldkaisekirestaurant.Yoshihiro
thinksit’sprobablymorethan
200 yearsold.It’snotnecessary
tohavea starter,though.The
processresemblesthatofmaking
sourdough,andit’seasytostart
yourown.
Anothervitalpieceof
information– astoldtomeby
anall-femalegroupoftraditional
picklemastersinKyoto,is that
“youshouldneverletanyoneelse
touchyournukadoko.It isyour
handsthatmakeyourpickle
better than anyone else’s”.Japanese
pickles
MASTERFERMENTER ADAMJAMES,OF HOBART’S
ROUGHRICE,ON HOWTOMAKE CRISPAND
REFRESHING NUKAZUKE PICKLES.Left:plate
(withpickles)
fromKristen
MoorePottery.
Allotherprops
stylist’sown.
Stockists p152.