# Japanese Pickles - Nukazuke **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [June 24, 2024, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-pickles-nukazuke/1003256 "2024-06-24T05:47:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DaveUnknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@DaveUnknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveUnknown)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-pickles-nukazuke/1003256/1 "2024-06-24T05:47:27Z")
I apologize for my ignorance. I was watching a random Japanese “Diner” type youtube cooking video, and the cook was sifting his hand through what looked like wet sand, and pulled out a cello-sponge. The translation/caption said “nuka pickle… from when the shop opened…” So, I looked it up and it looks like the chef was mixing up a damp, lactobacter innoculated blend of rice bran, then shoving sliced vegetables in the mix, where the vegetables are left to ferment. Sort of like the idea behind sourdough starter (but with lactobacter, not yeast). I don’t think I’ve ever had these before, knowingly. Research says they can be very sour, or mild. I love pickles, but I doubt I’ll try to make these. Has anyone eaten these/made these before? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-pickles-nukazuke/1003256/2 "2024-06-24T13:56:27Z")
> [@DaveUnknown](#): > > I don’t think I’ve ever had these before, knowingly. Research says they can be very sour, or mild. I love pickles, but I doubt I’ll try to make these. > Has anyone eaten these/made these before? Aren’t you just describing basic fermented pickles? Like Jewish sours and half sours? I far prefer fermented pickles to vinegared ones. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-pickles-nukazuke/1003256/3 "2024-06-24T14:10:59Z")
How to make your own [Nukazuke pickles](https://plantbasedmatters.net/nukazuke-japanese-pickles-made-in-a-fermented-rice-bran-bed/). You’ll need [Nukadoko](https://plantbasedmatters.net/nukadoko-a-fermented-rice-bran-bed-for-pickling/) to ferment them. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-pickles-nukazuke/1003256/4 "2024-06-24T14:11:55Z")
Essentially, but no European fermentation tradition uses a pickling bed of rice bran, which results in subtly different flavors. Also, we’re not just talking about pickling cucumbers. One of my favorite nukazuke is Takuan daikon radish. > **[Takuan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takuan)** > > Takuan (Japanese: 沢庵; also spelled takuwan), or takuan-zuke (沢庵漬け; 'pickled takuan'), known as danmuji (단무지) in the context of Korean cuisine, is a pickled preparation of daikon radish. As a popular part of traditional Japanese cuisine, takuan is often served uncooked alongside other types of tsukemono ('pickled things'). It is also enjoyed at the end of meals to aid digestion. > In Japan, famous Buddhist monk Takuan Sōhō (1573–1645) is popularly credited with creating this yellow pickle, which no... ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-pickles-nukazuke/1003256/5 "2024-06-24T14:36:52Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Essentially, but no European fermentation tradition uses a pickling bed of rice bran, which results in subtly different flavors. Sure, my parents would use a little rye in the base to set off the fermentation. But I believe they both work on principles of lactofermentation. I do imagine the taste is slightly different, but will have that familiar lactic tang. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-pickles-nukazuke/1003256/6 "2024-06-24T15:00:14Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > But I believe they both work on principles of lactofermentation. I do imagine the taste is slightly different, but will have that familiar lactic tang. Absolutely. The base principle is lactobacterial fermentation, as discovered millenia ago in multiple cultures. But beyond lactic acid tang, the choice of vegetables and additional flavoring ingredients has an impact. So does the fact that a nuka bed is intended to be permanent and used over and over, maturing with time and environment exposure, and the resulting pickles gain tremendous flavor complexity and depth from being fermented in a years-old or even decades-old pickling bed. So if your answer to OP’s question is “tastes no different than European-style fermented cucumber pickles”, you’re oversimplifying. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-pickles-nukazuke/1003256/7 "2024-06-24T15:14:58Z")
I’ll have to keep an eye out next time I’m at the Japanese grocery. I enjoy lactofermented foods from all around the world. Like you say, they all have their own spin, but it’s all familiar. ---
**Author:** ![DaveUnknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@DaveUnknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveUnknown)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-pickles-nukazuke/1003256/8 "2024-06-24T21:59:34Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > So does the fact that a nuka bed is intended to be permanent and used over and over, maturing with time and environment exposure, and the resulting pickles gain tremendous flavor complexity and depth from being fermented in a years-old or even decades-old pickling bed. That’s right, it’s not the western-style salt brine lacto-fermentation as I understand it. The cook looked like he used daikon and cucumber cut into long strips, then shoved down into the lactobacillus-spiked wet rice bran. He said he was using it since the shop opened, presumably many years. It was something I never knew about. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-pickles-nukazuke/1003256/9 "2024-06-24T22:05:01Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Also, we’re not just talking about pickling cucumbers. One of my favorite nukazuke is Takuan daikon radish. One expects, from the name, that it would most often be used with green squash, with copious added spices. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2024, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-pickles-nukazuke/1003256/10 "2024-06-25T02:02:16Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > One expects, from the name, that it would most often be used with green squash, with copious added spices. Chronos, I’m confused. Where in the Japanese name do you get “green squash” and added spices? Certainly, not something I ran across in my few years in Tokyo. Daikon is a giant turnip and not a green squash, although I guess it can have a greenish hue but usually an off white. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2024, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-pickles-nukazuke/1003256/11 "2024-06-25T02:31:36Z")
Sorry, I thought the cross-lingual pun was obvious. Zuke = zucchini, and nuke = very spicy. I just found it amusing that the Japanese name sounded like it could be a colloquial English name for a pickled vegetable. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2024, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-pickles-nukazuke/1003256/12 "2024-06-25T12:13:00Z")
“Zuke” = “zu keh”. Two syllables. This joke wouldn’t work for someone who knows how Japanese is pronounced. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2024, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-pickles-nukazuke/1003256/13 "2024-06-25T20:06:41Z")
Flew way over my head, too. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-pickles-nukazuke/1003256/14 "2024-06-26T19:43:46Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > One of my favorite nukazuke is Takuan daikon radish. I love takuan. No Japanese restaurant around here offers it on the menu, but usually if you ask they will provide an appetizer’s worth of it. I’ve bought some from Amazon–it’s overly sweet (made with aspartame instead of sugar, so virtually calorie-free—but too sweet!) The flavor is ineffable. Nice crunch, too.