Tsukemono Japanese Pickled Cabbage Recipes

JAPANESE PICKLED NAPA CABBAGE (HAKUSAI TSUKEMONO)

Steps:

• Cut napa cabbage: Cut it into small pieces.
• Put in a bag: Put napa cabbage, shio koji, and shio kombu in a plastic bag.
• Massage: Massage them until napa cabbage gets a little softer.
• Pickle: Close the bag, put it in a container, and let it sit in the fridge for 2 hours.

TSUKEMONO (JAPANESE PICKLED CABBAGE)

Steps:

• Place cabbage into a large pot and cover with 3 1/2 cups water, or more if needed to just cover cabbage. Add 2 tablespoons salt. Place 2 pots that nest within each other on top of the cabbage; place something heavy into the smaller pot so that it crushes down on the cabbage. Let sit for 24 hours at room temperature.
• Remove pots on top of cabbage. Drain all water, placing cabbage back into the pot. Add kombu and chile pepper.
• Make tsukemono water by combining remaining water, remaining salt, mirin, and monosodium glutamate in a large pot or bowl. Add to the cabbage pot and replace 2 pots on top. Let sit for another 24 hours at room temperature.
• Transfer mixture to mason jars and refrigerate until ready to serve.

SALT PICKLED CUCUMBERS

Steps:

• Remove both ends of cucumbers.
• Place two cucumbers on a cutting board at a time, sprinkle a large pinch of salt (not in ingredients) over the cucumbers.
• Using both hands, roll the cucumbers back and forth on the cutting board, putting slight pressure on the cucumbers (note 3).
• When the green juice starts coming out on the board, rinse the cucumbers and pat them dry with kitchen paper.
• Put the cucumbers and the remaining ingredients in a zip lock bag, remove the air as much as possible, and seal the bag.
• Place the bag on a plate or in a container (in case the bag leaks), ensuring that cucumbers do not overlap, and leave them in the fridge overnight, up to 2 days.