Pickles

For the Japanese, rice and tsukemono (pickled vegetables) have gone hand in hand since ancient times. There are many varieties of tsukemono, also known as oshinko, preserved in all sorts of ways, and different regions have their own speciality. Barrel after barrel of freshly made tsukemono are displayed in the food hall of any department store in Japan and you can sample them before buying. The Japanese do not use vinegar as a pickling agent, instead, rice bran, miso, sake or mirin pulps, mustard, koji (rice malt) or shoyu, together with salt, are used. Salting takes away the coarseness of the hard vegetables and makes them soft and digestible as well as preserving them. It also adds more character and depth to the taste and improves the nutritional content. The following are some of the popular pickles available in packets from Japanese supermarkets.