Nukazuke

I adore Japanese pickles, but they are not so easy to come by in Mullingar. There are a couple of different ways to make the, but I have been intrigued by the idea of a rice bran mix hosting lactobaccilli which pickle for you. It's not a far cry from the sour dough bread which is a staple here.

Almost a year ago, a Japanese friend gave me a package of Nukazuke mix, which her parents had sent her from Japan. (Thanks Shino). Now the thing with Nukazuke is that you have to mix it every day (sourdough is once a week), so I had put off starting it as there was always a trip away planned. We have nothing now till July, so yesterday I got started.




The nukadoko will live in a plastic bucket - traditionally it would be in a wooden bucket.



The bacteria have to come from somewhere- so I added an organic carrot and some apple peel, and some sourdough bread soaked in water.






So now, I have to mix daily until it starts to smell ready - whatever that smells like! Something to do until the weather improves, anyhow...

More info.