not purple shibazuke

Shibazuke (literally purple pickle) is made with red shiso (perilla) which gives the pickles a "purple/red" color.

I tried a simple recipe I found on sirogohan.com, but because I didn't buy the right vinegar, my shibazuke didn't turn purple/red.

If you can get your hands on red shiso, then your pickles will definitely be the right color.

I wanted to try this recipe because they also suggest you to use green shiso, which is more readily available at our markets.

For us, red shiso is only available during the time (summer-ish) when you find fresh ume (apricots) in the markets usually when people make umeboshi (pickled apricots).

I only made half the recipe because I wasn't sure how it would turn out.

Adapted from sirogohan.com

250 grams total of eggplant, peeled ginger, cucumber, myoga...sliced rather thin
5 leaves green shiso, washed, stems removed
2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons red ume vinegar
1/2 tablespoon mirin (sweet rice wine)

Put all the veggies and shiso into a ziploc and massage in the salt.
Put the ziploc bag into a flat container and put it in the refrigerator with something heavy on top and leave for a couple of hours.
After a couple of hours, squeeze out of the water from all the veggies and shiso.
Put all the veggies and shiso back into the ziploc bag, throw out the squeezed liquid.
Add the vinegar and mirin.
Put the ziploc bag back into the refrig with something heavy on top and leave for 2 days.
After the 2 days, mince the pickles before serving.
Put pickles into an airtight container and enjoy!

NOTES: I bought regular ume vinegar by mistake, this is why my pickles did not turn red/purple.

If you can get your hands on red shiso, use regular vinegar to pickle your veggies.

If you cannot get your hands on red shiso, use green shiso and use red ume vinegar.

This got the thumbs up from Satoshi, it does take some time, but I'm making this again!

nishidaya

Came across this brand of pickles called Nishidaya.

If I am not mistaken, they use veggies from Kyoto.

I loved the packaging.

And the pickles were nice and crisp.

I found this at Meiji-ya in Kyoto, but will keep and eye out for them elsewhere too.

mizunasu tsukemono

During this time of year, you may or not be able to find mizunasu tsukemono in Osaka.

The pickles are made asazuke (light pickling) style...not too puckery or too sweet because they are not soaked for very long.

The mizunasu (literally water eggplant) are grown in the southern part of Osaka and have lots of moisture.

Since this pickle is very popular at this time of year, it is rare to find them in big supermarkets.

Most are found at small pickle shops, at the department stores or if you have "connections".

I'm pretty sure this was the first time we tried this because it is just that rare & pricey...for a small sized eggplant I bought this for 350 yen (tax included) at the department store.

There is another way of pickling the mizunasu...nukazuke (pickling in rice bran)...which I also saw at the department store.

Hopefully the next time I'm wandering around in the department store they'll have some for us to try.

If not, we'll just try to get some next summer.

iburi gakko cream cheese

Remember that dip we had at Donpachi in Sendai?

Well, I found the tsukemono, Iburi Gakko (smoked pickles in Akita dialect).

Smoked Daikon, a type of pickle from Akita Prefecture.

I used about a 2-inch sized piece and chopped it up.

Then mixed with some cream cheese.

No real recipe.

I also found those Levain crackers, the ones that are made in Japan.

NOTES: This is great on crackers, but I am thinking it might be nice put in with a tuna sandwich too.

I'm making this again.

ochazuke

When I think of ochazuke I think of a hot dish (hot rice, hot tea), these days in summer there are cold versions.

One version I saw on TV, used rice from the freezer, defrosted in cold water.

Topped with chopped up canned fish, mixed with some umeboshi.

Some torn up nori and chopped up tsukemono.

Sprinkle some ground sesame seeds and then add some cold tea.

I didn't have frozen rice, so I used warm rice from the rice cooker.

And topped my ochazuke with cold tea.

It was perfect for this humidity.

akakabu pickles

The other day at the market we came across akakabu (red turnips). If I'm not mistaken this variety is usually found in the Northern parts of Japan.

Satoshi likes these as tsukemono (pickles), so I bought one to try making some.

When I cut it, I was surprised by the light pink and white insides.

I used this recipe and doubled it. In place of the salt I instead used a seasoned salt (salt, rosemary, chili, parsley and oregano).

I put everything into a ziploc bag and let it sit in the refridge for a couple of hours.

I love the deep pinkish color.

We tried this with breakfast the next day and these passed the Satoshi test.

If I come across akakabu at the market again, I'm making this.

marukoshi

Sunday while shopping for some ingredients for dinner, we came upon a tsukemono display. They were selling different types, 3 (120 gram packages) for 1080 yen (tax included).

Marukoshi is a Nagoya tsukemono maker that has been in business since 1914...

Satoshi, the taster, tried almost all the different ones that the guy had out.

I didn't taste any of them but picked out these...

Mamekyu (mame = beans, kyu = short for kyuri (cucumber). I really liked the hits of ginger in this one.

Cubed daikon with a sakura gelee.

The sakura flavor is so "springy". My only peeve is that they don't use sugar but an artificial sweetener...boo!

Spicy gobo..basil, garlic. An "Italian" flavor.

Different but each one so good!

We had these along with some maguro tsukudani for breakfast yesterday.

The weather is back to rain. It is supposedly gonna rain for the next three days...sigh!

Hope you have a nice week!

roca's red vegetable pickles

With the rest of the red cabbage, I tried this recipe in Roca's other book, "Roca no Bento".

The recipe says it serves 2, we don't usually eat that much pickles in one sitting, so it seemed a like a lot to me.

Red Vegetable Pickles from "Roca no Bento" serves 2

160 grams red cabbage
1 bay leaf
1.5 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
pepper

Rinse and cut the red cabbage into small pieces
Add the cabbage to a resealable bag, add the seasonings.
Remove as much air as possible and let sit for at least an hour.

NOTES: this was so easy to put together and it tastes like the Japanese cole slaw that I've made before.

We had a little of it the other morning, nice and crunchy! Satoshi said he liked it because it reminded him of sauerkraut.

The sausage we had tasted like portuguese sausage too, whoo!

I transferred the pickles from the resealable bag to a jar. The notes of the recipe also say you can use regular cabbage for this too.

I'll definitely make this one again.

It's Friday here, I hope you all have a nice Easter and a nice weekend!

hawaii reconnects

I recently reconnected with this particular tsukemono.

It tastes like the recipe I use for yatsumi-zuke.

I'm gonna try using other veggies next time I make this.

last colors of fall

The fall foliage was a bit late this year what with all the temps going up and down.

On top of that there were many days on the weekends where it rained.

Luckily we were able to catch the last glimpses of fall this past Sunday.

We started off at Tofukuji. We visited this temple last year, which I wrote about here.

Somehow there seemed to be a ton more people out and about this time around.

Between tiny spurts of sunshine we made our way around the grounds.

With all the tons of people there was a lot of waiting in lines, the ladies restroom, to get into the garden, just about everywhere there was a line for something.

I guess that is the downside when you get out and about during a popular season.

It was amazing how many leaves had already fallen.

Satoshi was concerned about who had to rake up all the leaves.

After visiting Tofukuji, we decided to visit the family grave at Sennyuji.

But before doing that, we figured lunch would be late so we decided to re-fuel with a couple of snacks...

Yakimochi...yomogi mochi (mugwort rice cake) filled with sweet bean paste...150 yen.

Love how the outside gets a little crisp from the grilling.

And a stick of kushidango (rice cake on a stick)...100 yen.

Both are grilled to order and served piping hot.

The stick from the kushidango was removed before served, which made it easy to eat.

The shoyu glaze makes a nice sweet-salty combination.

Lunch turned out to be very late (2-ish), because we had a late start out and because the line for the place we wanted to eat at was LONG.

The place was a tsukemono buffet, Akoyachaya, which I had heard about.

Tsukemono are pickled veggies. You should know that Satoshi loves tsukemono, even if he is supposed to watch his salt intake.

This buffet serves 25 different types of tsukemono, a piece of tofu, miso soup, rice and tea....1280 yen.

There are three types of rice to choose from...white rice, 16-grain rice and o-kayu (rice porridge).

You can eat as much rice and tsukemono as you want, no time limit. (Usually buffet places in Japan limit your eating time to 90 minutes or 120 minutes depending on the place.)

Satoshi tried all the different types of rice and all the tsukemono.

I liked all the different tsukemono too, especially the ones that used yuzu (citron).

Even though we liked this place, we agreed that this place is in a very touristy area and we probably wouldn't come back, unless maybe to bring out-of-town guests to try.

Akoyachaya
3-343 Kiyomizu (top of Ninenzaka)
Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto
Phone: 075.531.0056
Open: 11:00-16:30

hawaii volunteers

Do you volunteer? I thought about it and realized that I have been doing so ever since grade school, from sign waving for politicians to cleaning the highways with organizations.

Well, it is that time of year again when I go to help my mom's church make tsukemono.

We again did 300 pounds of daikon (long white radish) and marinated them for takuan and kogen (two types of daikon pickles).

One thing I love about helping is the food afterwards...Each time, the food is almost never the same...

You may notice that the hot dog is red, people in Hawaii love their "red" foods. These hot dogs don't have the "snap" that I've come to love but it was delicious all the same, a little nostalgic even.

I also love the chatter during and after, so many personalities, some hard work and lots of fun.

bubuzuke

Do you know what bubuzuke (boo-boo-zoo-kay) is?

Well, it is what people from Kyoto call chazuke (tea with rice). I like the sound of saying it.

Most bubuzuke is served with pickles...lots of different pickles as well as savory items like grilled fish or mentaiko (chili pollock roe).

The other night we went to a restaurant, Sachifukuya, and had their bubuzuke + yakizakana (grilled fish) set...1575 yen (about US$15.75).

If you click on the top photo, you can see what we ate.

I chose salmon and it was grilled with a yuzu sauce...delicious, smokey with a hint of yuzu (citron)!

Satoshi chose the tara (cod) and it was grilled with a miso sauce.

The portions were just right and everything very good.

I found out afterwards that the company that owns the buffet we went to last weekend, owns this place too.

The food was wonderful here, I'm sure we'll be back.

On a side note, apparently if someone from Kyoto asks you if you would like some "bubuzuke" it means you've overstayed your welcome and are politely being asked to leave.

Sachifukuya
Daimaru 14F
Umeda, Osaka
Phone: 06.4796.7225

yatsumi-zuke

Pet peeve, I hate it when plans change at the last minute, but that is the life of a housewife of a Japanese businessman, mine anyway.

Don't need dinner, need dinner, at the last minute, don't need dinner...believe me, it has taken the wind out my sails many a time.

I mean, why bother to shop for groceries, plan a meal, if you don't have to cook for anyone but yourself? Especially when Japan has many great sozai-ya (pre-made food shops).

In the end, I usually find a way to use the food I have in my refridge or things that I have prepared, most times by feeding it to Satoshi for breakfast the next day.

The other day, Satoshi told me at the last moment that he didn't need dinner, so instead of cooking for one, I took the veggies that needed using in my fridge and turned them into tsukemono (pickles).

The first type of pickles that came to mind was yatsumi-zuke since I had komatsuna (a type of Japanese mustard cabbage) and daikon.

Yatsumi-zuke is a type of pickle that you find in Hawaii which uses cabbage and mustard cabbage.

I once told someone in Japan about yatsumi-zuke and got a strange look. I guess it isn't too popular in Osaka?! Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen many shoyu-based tsukemono in Osaka...hmm.

Luckily there was a recipe for yatsumi-zuke in a cookbook I have.

It was my first time making this and I must say, it came together quite easily and quickly.

Here is the recipe if you'd like to try:

Yatsumi-zuke From "More Recipes Please" by Joyce Nip, Karen Sugimoto & Florence Yamada

1 head cabbage, medium size
3 heads mustard cabbage
1/4 c. Hawaiian salt
2 tbsp. sesame seeds, roasted
Ajinomoto to taste

Sauce:
1/3 cup shoyu
1/4 cup Japanese vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 chili pepper

Cut head cabbage and mustard cabbage into 1/2 in pieces
Place in a large container
Sprinkle Hawaiian salt over cabbage, mix well.
Let stand for about 1/2 hour
Squeeze out excess water from vegetables and place back in container
Add sesame seed and Ajinomoto
Prepare sauce by bringing all ingredients to a boil
Pour hot sauce over vegetables and mix well
Leave mixture at room temperature for 3 to 4 hours after which keep in covered jar in the refrigerator.

NOTES: I only had 5 bunches of komatsuna and about 6 inches of daikon, but I made the full recipe of the sauce. I didn't have whole chili peppers so I put a pinch of a dried sliced chili that I have, while leaving out the Ajinomoto.

To store, I am keeping this in glass jars. Satoshi said this is quite salty, so the next time I think I will rinse after the 30 minutes and squeeze out the water.

All I can say is, bring on the rice!

hawaii volunteers

Yesterday I went to help my mom and some people from her church make tsukemono.

Almost every trip home, I go to help at least once. This usually involves lots of lifting and peeling pounds and pounds of daikon for takuan and kogen (two types of tsukemono (Japanese pickles)). Sometimes it involves other veggies when they are making other types.

Yesterday they were making takuan and kogen...150 pounds of daikon for each type.

With about 20 people we were done in no time. It was interesting listening to the groups of people chatter on about topics like "what they are growing in their garden" to "Michael Jackson".

These pickles will be sold at their upcoming Bon Dance in August.

The bon dance which started in Japan is like a party for you to welcome back your ancestors during the O-bon season in August. There is usually a big taiko (drum), a singer and some other Japanese instruments like a shamisen (looks like a 3 string guitar of sorts) that play various Japanese songs perched on a high stage, while the participants (including you) dance around the high stage.

If I am not mistaken, dancing around the high stage is how you welcome your ancestors back. I do remember while growing up that we had to go at least one time around to get some shave ice. (bribery?? maybe.)

The bon dances in Hawaii have food booths and sometimes games, it may look kind of like a county fair or what we call carnivals. While Japan does not have many bon dances these days, Hawaii seems to preserve what culture our immigrant ancestors brought with them hundreds of years ago.

Satoshi and I have volunteered in the andagi (okinawan donuts) booth at my church and have not forgotten the overwhelming heat and hard work that goes into producing these tasty treats.

I think the Bon Dance season has started in Hawaii, if you have some time you should check it out, the local newspapers usually lists all the bon dance dates and times, it is a great way to get some good local food and welcome your ancestors back.

rakkyo (part 2)

Can you believe that 20 days has passed and the rakkyo is ready?

I tasted a couple as I was packaging some for o-susowake (to give away). They were a bit salty, not very sweet, crunchy, the onion flavor is still there and there is a little zing from the chilies.

I'm glad I made this, it was a good first experience and I think I'll do it again next year.

Have a nice weekend!

rakkyo

In Japan it is the beginning of pickling season. In the markets, you can find plums to make umeshu (plum wine) or umeboshi (pickled plum), rakkyo (shallots) and shoga (ginger) to pickle. I really like rakkyo, so I was interested in trying to make my own and was surprised at how easy it was to make. It was actually similar to making takuan (pickled daikon(long white radish)).

Buy your rakkyo. If you are lucky, you can find them already cleaned. Just rinse and drain.

Make your sauce. This is the sauce measurements that was on the bag of rakkyo.

For 1 kg. of rakkyo (the amount inside the bag):

350cc vinegar
250g sugar
60g salt
60cc mirin (sweet rice wine)
Heat these ingredients until the salt and sugar melt. Cool mixture.

Put your rakkyo in a glass or plastic jar. Pour the cooled mixture over and wait 20 days before eating.

NOTES: I put a teaspoon of chili pepper in there too to give it a little kick!

Stay tuned...I think it's going to be good!

yummy's

On my last trip home, I helped my mom's church with selling tsukemono (pickles) in their booth for the Taste of Hongwanji.

Since this year's event is coming up in April, I helped them today to make the tsukemono.

We started at 7:30am with 300 lbs of daikon(long white radish) to peel and chop. There were about 20 of us and with everyone busy, we were able to finish by about 10:00am.

Afterwards, mom and I picked up lunch--She chose Chinese.

And I got a plate of bi bim kook soo from Yummy's--cold spicy noodles topped with different types of namul (pickled veggies) and some barbecued beef....only US$6.80, it was really tasty and filling.

I think I need a nap now...

Yummy's
850 Kamehameha Hwy.
Pearl City
Phone: 808.455.3288