Japanese pickles are normally served with rice and miso soup. There is also a wide variety of Japanese pickles, from salt-only pickles to pickles using rice vinegar and sugar, and pickles using rice brans or rice koji. Japanese pickles play an important role in Japanese meals. Please see the world of Japanese pickles.
What is the characteristic of Japanese pickles ?
Tsukemono (Japanese Pickles, 漬物) – are preserved vegetables that are pickled in salt (or salt water), soy sauce, vinegar mixed with sugar, miso, sake lees, rice bran or rice koji. They are variously called Tsukemono, Kou no mono, or Shinko can be salty, sour, tart, piquant, or sweet.
Pickling time ranges from a few minutes to a few hours to a few years, and some pickles are fermented in the process. They also vary widely in texture: cucumber pickles are crispy, eggplant pickles are soft and may squeak in your teeth. Takuan, the popular yellow pickle made from dried daikon, is sweet and crunchy.
From the thin-sliced pickled ginger at the sushi counter to kaiseki meals that traditionally end with them, pickles are present in some form at most Japanese meals. Benishoga, or bright red pickkled ginger, is a popular accompaniment to fried noodles with vegetables called yakisoba. Curry is often served with sweet, red pickles made from seven different vegetables called fukujinzuke.
Some of the most distinctive pickled items are called Naraduke which originated in Nara, in the kansai region. These melon gourds, and other vegetables are pickled in sake kasu (sake lees) for as long as three years. Many of the melons and gourds arwe long, thin varieties, and after pickling, are presented in a spiral that resembles a sausage and covered in a brown slurry.
Another distinctive type of pickle, nukazuke, uses nuka (rice bran) as the fermenting agent. In the market the nuka looks like wet sand and covers whole pickled vegetables such as cucumbers, carrots, or daikon radishes. Before eating, the bran is rinsed off and the vegetables are cut up into bite-size pieces. The resulting aroma and flavor are quite different from pickles made with salt or vinegar. In Tokyo, local pickle bettarazuke: daikon pickled in rice koji slurry is popular. In Japan, it is usually served with various Japanese dishes, including Japanese breakfast, soba or udon noodles and donburi dishes. Pickles play an important role in balancing the whole dish, even though it is a small dish. For example, pickles have the effect of refreshing the mouth. For this reason, pickles are called konomono (Kou no mono, 香の物) or “fragrant things” or “fragrant foods” at long-established Japanese restaurants.
Best 3 Healthy Benefits
1. Vitamins 2. Antioxidant 3. probiotics = digestive system healthy
Top 10 Popular Japanese pickles
1. Shio-zuke (salted pickles, 塩漬け）
2. Umeboshi (Pickled plum, 梅干し)
3. Takuan (Pickled daikon, たくあん)
4. Shibazuke (Pickled in salt and red shiso leaves, しば漬け)
5. Asazuke (Lightly pickled vegetables, 浅漬け)
6. Nukazuke (Pickled vegetables in rice bran, 糠漬け)
7. Kasuzuke (Pickledvegetables in rice koji/mold, 粕漬け)
8. Shinshoga (Pickled ginger, 新生姜)
9. Rakkyo (Pickled Chinese onion, らっきょう)
10. Benishoga (Pickled and colored ginger, 紅生姜)
What are the popular vegetables for Japanese pickles?
– Cucumber（きゅうり） – Daikon radish（だいこん） – Eggplant（なす） – Carrot（にんじん） – Chinese cabbage（はくさい） – Turnip（かぶ） – Lotus root（れんこん） – Chinese onioin（らっきょう）
Tamagoyaki (玉子焼き) is normally sweet and is popular not only as a side dish for lunch boxes and Japanese breakfast. Recently, it is used as a filling of sandwich.
Tamagoyaki (玉子焼き) is a sweetened egg rolled omelette that has golden yellow color and unique shape. Yes, it’s like a pillow (before cutting!)
Tamagoyaki has both sweet and savory taste and is loved by young to the old here in Japan.
You might have tasted this Japanese style egg roll as a side dish in a bento box or as one of the appetizer of Japanese breakfast or atop of sushi. Nowadays, you can see Tamagoyaki in a sandwich.
Tamagoyaki is rolled thin omelettes so that it has several layers. It looks easy and simple to make Tamagoyaki but making Tamagoyaki for the first time might be a littble bit tricky.
But no worries! You might need to practice a few times and you will soon be a Tamagoyaki master! (Please try some of my Tamagoyaki recipes!)
What is difference of Tamago (玉子) and Tamago (卵)?
Birds that are used for food (cooked) are called 玉子. Biological meaning such as fish and insects or that are eaten raw from birds are called 卵.
People also confuse about the names of Tamagoyaki(卵焼き), Atsuyaki Tamago（厚焼き玉子）, and Dashimaki Tamago（だし巻き玉子）.
– Tamagoyaki : Japanese omelette/Egg roll in general. – Atsuyaki Tamago : thick egg roll with firm and dense texture – Dashimaki Tamago : egg roll with dashi in it. It has much more refined, juicy, silky, and flavorful.
Arrangement
What is great about making Tamagoyaki at home is that you can create your own Japanese omelette. You can add various ingredients such as Shirasu (small fish), Nori seaweed, Sakura-ebi (dried small shrimps), green pepper or other veggies, salmon flakes and ground meat etc.
About Japanese omelette pan
In Japan, there is a special pan designed for making this egg roll. It’s also curious that rectangular shape pan is common in Kansai (West Japan) and square shape pan is common in Kanto (East Japan).
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on August 4th, 2013. The post has been updated in October 27, 2020 with more information for the dish and with new images.
Why don’t you make this Japanese version of parfait called Anmitsu? It’s a Japanese confectionery that uses plenty of agar agar jelly, mochi (rice cakes), various fruits, red bean paste, green tea ice cream and a drizzle of brown sugar syrup as a final touch.
What is Anmitsu ?
Anmitsu (あんみつ) is considered as a summer dessert but we can buy it all year around here in Japan. This Japanese style parfait is made of small cubes of agar agar jelly, red bean paste called anko, mochi, various fruits, ice cream (either vanilla or matcha flavor) and boiled red beans. It’s usually served with brown sugar syrup called Kuromitsu that you pour over the Anmitsu before enjoying this sweets.
What exactly in the Anmitsu
Agar agar jelly (Kanten, 寒天) :
Agar agar jelly is a transparent color jelly made from tengusa, a Red Sea alga. It has no calories and no taste; and takes on the flavor of whatever it is mixed with; it solidifies at room temperature, making it simple to work with.
Red bean paste (Anko, あんこ) :
Sweet bean paste often made from Azuki beans, which is an essential ingredient in Japanese sweets. Red bean paste is either smooth (Koshian) or chunky/grainy (Tsubuan). It’s key ingredients of Anmistu because its name comes from the abbreviation of Anko. *It can be a perfect sweets for vegetarians and vegans.
Rice cake (Mochi, もち) :
A taffy made from sticky rice that has been steamed and pounded. It’s easy to use glutinous rice flour to make mochi. There are two kinds of rice flour; Dango-ko (or Joshinko) and Shiratama-ko. Dango-ko is made from non-sticky rice. *In my recipe, I normally use Shiratama-ko, which doesn’t require a steaming process.
Ice cream (アイスクリーム) :
Another important topping of Anmitsu for summer. Normally, either vanilla or Matcha ice cream. Somehow no sherbets for Anmitsu. *I didn’t use vanilla ice cream this time because to avoid conflict in color from Mochi.
Brown sugar syrup (Kuromitsu, 黒みつ) :
This is another key ingredients of Anmitsu because its name comes from the abbreviation of Kuromitsu. It’s called brown sugar syrup but is almost black in color.
Red bean peas (Aka Endomame, 赤エンドウマメ) :
A few boiled peas are normally topped with Anmitsu. Even in Japan, it’s hard to find those specific peas at the local supermarket. *I used the those peas from a canned Mitsumame.
A variety of fruits (Kudamono, くだもの) :
You can use any fresh fruits or canned fruits to create your Anmitsu.
Anmitsu is a traditional Japanese sweet. Anmitsu may be avoided by young Japanese people since there are various imported sweets everywhere. However, my family and I love Japanese sweets in general so we eat Anmitsu all year around. I always eat ice cream first, but please enjoy in any order you like.
The sweetness and sourness are perfectly harmonized thanks to the brown sugar syrup. Ice cream and Mochi are always perfect match.
You may be able to find canned Anmitsu at your local supermarkets, but please try handmade Anmitsu. It’s always the BEST!
Anmitsu variation
Many variation exist in Anmitsu. It started as mitsumame (みつ豆) for children in Edo period. Nowadays, you can see various fruits in the mitsumame at Japanese cafes or canned mitsumame product. But here are the basic understanding for the world of Anmitsu.
– Mitsumame : Agar agar jelly + Brown sugar syrup (Kuromitsu) + Boiled peas (Endomame)
One year passed so fast. My husband and I always talk and laugh a lot about her birth day last year. That day, I had an initial labor pain mid night (around 1am!), but I was trying to forget it because it was two weeks before the scheduled date. So I went asleep until 6am. I was convinced that my daughter would be born today, so I hurriedly started editing my YouTube (It was a Yakisoba recipe video!) until the taxi arrives at 9am. Then, after eating delicious lunch at the hospital, I gave birth Sui-chan within 1 hour! What a busy and funny birth day!!! It was and would be a memorable day forever!
At Sui-chan’s 1st birthday, my family and I did Japan’s traditional fortune game called “erabitori”. We put several items on the floor and wait until Sui-chan picks up the first item.
Those items are… – Globe (we didn’t have balloon in the house 😅) – Measure – Mirror and comb – Book (we didn’t have dictionary in the house 😅) – Spoon and chopsticks – Pen and brush – Money – Scissors – Calculator – Telephone
This vlog introduces what to eat at the new shopping mall Rayard Miyashita Park in Shibuya. I hope you enjoyed the previous Vlog which showed the new Miyashita Park and new Sequence Miyashita Park hotel. In the same facility, there is a lot of fancy and unique shops and new restaurants. Please check what we experiencedthere! For more information about each shops etc, please read the whole article from down below!
This vlog introduces the Tsukiji Outer Market (known as Tsukiji Fish Market) in Tokyo. Tsukiji Outer Market is one of the best places to eat fresh seafood in Tokyo. My family and I visited there on the weekend morning and tried several foods. Please check thie Vlog to see what the Tsukiji Fish Market looks like in the summer of 2020 and the foods we recommend! To enjoy this Vlog more, please also read the article down below.
I opened my shop on Amazon.com.* In this shop, there are Japanese kitchenware and cooking tools that I recommend! Please visit my online shop and take a look! https://www.amazon.com/shop/yucasjapanesecooking
* YUCa’s Japanese Cooking is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com
In this recipe video, I will show you how to make poterico. I did the live streaming at the Takeshita street in Harajuku. During the live streaming, I visit the Calbee+ that is a flagship store of Japanese snack company Calbee. In the store, I tasted their fresh product called Poterico. I promised to recreate this recipe so that everyone can cook and taste one of the popular Japanese snack at your home kitchen. Now, here you are!
It was and would be a memorable day forever!
