Nuka-Zuke

This is a traditional method of pickling and each household used to keep a tub of nuka-miso (rice bran mash), which resembles miso and from which it takes its name. Nuka (dry rice bran) is mixed with warm, strong brine into a mash, in which vegetables such as aubergine (eggplant), carrot, cucumber, daikon, hakusai or turnips are buried and left to pickle. It is ready to eat the next day. This makes the vegetables mildly sweet and enriches the flavour, but not without paying the price of its strong odour. The mash must be stirred every day, ideally with bare hands. Although ong-serving dutiful wives were once fondly called nuka-miso (smelling wife), today not many wives wish to be appreciated for their smelly hands! Nuka for pickling is available from Japanese stores, although ready-pickled nuka-zuke in packets is more popular.