Re: Re: Rice Bran Pickle or Nuka Zuke, Rice Kojisuki

[Guest guest]

[beau]

Here is an interesting article I found for a pickling method using

cooked rice, my guess is brown rice, since it has the bran still

intact..

http://olen.eng.ohio-state.edu/J_FOODS/tsuke_ri.html

Would this work well on very small, whole eggplant and

squash like yellow squash? I am assuming the cabbage

mentioned is like Nappa Cabbage? Would baby corn

have too much natural sugar to work?

Darrell

[Guest guest]

Hi Darrell,

I have had my Nukamiso pot going for about a week now and the carrots

I tasted yesterday were pretty good, hard to describe the taste as the

bran paste is not fully active yet, it's just slightly salty, a bit

sweet with a rich flavor from the bran that is something new and good

to me.

I mix it by hand, then replace vegetable scraps with new ones on a

daily basis. I have used some cabbage, daikon and carrot scaps. I

added a sprinkle of sourdough breadcrumbs to supposedly help

fermentation. There are two cloves of garlic, kombu, 2 dried red

peppers, and a knob of ginger that I leave in. (Not 100% sure if I am

supposed to, but the description seemed to convey that?)

It has a nice sweet sour aroma and I just can't wait to start

Here is a link with details, the recommended veggies are listed at the bottom.

I am under the impression that the fermentation involves both yeasts

and bacteria, I wonder is this a unique pickle or are yeasts involved

in making a tasty Sauerkraut or Kimchi? I thought that those were

strictly lactic acid and other bacterias?

http://www.theblackmoon.com/Jfood/ftsuke.html

NUKA-ZUKE (rice bran pickles)

Pickles made from rice bran... nuka-zuke, are delicious and easy to

make. They have a pungent aroma, a tangy flavor, and are very

nutritious since they harbor vitamins and minerals from the rice bran.

Unlike salt pickles, nuka-zuke last for only a few days once removed

from the pickling medium. It is best to pluck them fresh from the

pickling medium, wash them, pat them dry and then immediately eat

them. Like all Japanese pickles, these are particularly tasty with

sake or beer!

In order to make nuka-zuke you will need a large wide mouthed glass

jar or ceramic pot with a tight fitting lid, I use a large glass jar

with a lid that clamps shut (plastic, wood, or metal containers won't

work for this pickling method). A jar with at least a quart capacity

is required. Begin by purchasing a package of nuka (rice bran) from an

Asian food store. Some brands already have salt and other agents mixed

into the bran, I like doing this myself so I purchase plain dry

roasted rice bran.

Place 6 cups of rice bran and 1 tablespoon of salt in a bowl and add 1

3/4 to 2 cups of water. Mix together with your hands until the bran

has the consistency of slightly moist sand. Place some of the moist

bran in your jar and then add a small 2 inch strip of konbu seaweed

(this helps maintain the moisture balance in your pickling medium),

add more bran to cover and then add 2 cloves of peeled but uncut

garlic (this adds much flavor to the final pickles, you can also use a

small knob of fresh ginger). Continue to fill the jar with bran and

then add 2 dried red peppers (this adds flavor to the pickles but also

discourages bugs from entering the rice bran mix.

Finish filling the jar with bran, making sure that the konbu, peppers,

and garlic are completely buried. It will take at least a week for the

rice bran medium to ripen and be ready for use. You can speed up this

process by adding vegetable scraps (peels from cucumbers, wilted

cabbage leaves), to the bran but remove the scraps after a day or two.

After a week or so the pickling medium should have a heady aroma and

look like damp sand. It will then be ready to use.

A nice batch of rice bran medium can last for years, if it becomes too

wet after much use just add a little bit of dry rice bran. A good

trick to prevent your rice bran bed from getting too soggy is to ad a

handful of dried soybeans to the mix! The beans absorb excess moisture

and also impart a mild flavor. It's also a good idea to " air out " the

mix on occasion, stirring it up with your hands or a spoon. Vegetables

to be pickled should be completely embedded in the rice bran and left

in the pickling medium for no more than two days. The finished pickles

should be bright in color, limp but crunchy, and possess a subtle

aroma and earthy aftertaste. Good pickles are only slightly salty and

have a delightful tangy flavor to them. It takes some effort to keep

the pickling bed in good shape, for instance, in summer your bed can

sprout white mold... if that happens just pluck out the mold, air out

the bed, and add a bit of fresh rice bran. Tending your pickling bed

takes work... but the delicious pickles are well worth the effort!

VEGETABLES TO PICKLE IN RICE BRAN

(1) carrots, cut into spears about an inch long

(2) Japanese eggplants (nasu), unpeeled, pierced with a knife, and cut

into segments about one inch long

(3) Japanese cucumbers (kyuri), pierced with a knifeand cut into

segments about an inch long

(4) broccoli, cut off excess stem and imbed small flowerets

(5) daikon, cut into rounds about 1/4 inch thick (you can also cut

them into half moon shapes)

(6) Japanese turnips (kabu), slice off the greens and cut a deep X

into the stem area before embedding in the rice bran. You can also

embed the turnip greens to be pickled

On Wed, 15 Dec 2004 13:19:19 -0600, Darrell <lazlo75501@...> wrote:

>

> [beau]

> Here is an interesting article I found for a pickling method using

> cooked rice, my guess is brown rice, since it has the bran still

> intact..

> http://olen.eng.ohio-state.edu/J_FOODS/tsuke_ri.html

>

> Would this work well on very small, whole eggplant and

> squash like yellow squash? I am assuming the cabbage

> mentioned is like Nappa Cabbage? Would baby corn

> have too much natural sugar to work?

>

> Darrell

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

[beau] Hi Darrell and all,

Here is an interesting article I found for a pickling method using

cooked rice, my guess is brown rice, since it has the bran still

intact..

http://olen.eng.ohio-state.edu/J_FOODS/tsuke_ri.html

Hi

I got the ingredients together to try this: brown rice, 1 gallon

Anchor Hocking jar, nappa cabbage, and seasalt. Anybody

else gonna try it?

Darrell

[Guest guest]

>Hi

>

>I got the ingredients together to try this: brown rice, 1 gallon

>Anchor Hocking jar, nappa cabbage, and seasalt. Anybody

>else gonna try it?

>

>Darrell

Yeah, I'm trying it. With white rice though. I don't think they

meant brown rice .. it's a very Japanese site, and the Japanes

just don't DO brown rice much. So if they didn't say " brown rice "

I think they meant white.

Heidi Jean