Vegetables Pickled in Yogurt and Miso (Tsukemono) ヨーグルト味噌漬物

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

You may wonder what they are. Or you may think that they're just sliced cucumber and carrot. No, they're TSUKEMONO. Tsukemono are Japanese preserved vegetables, usually pickled in a bed of fermented rice bran mixture or nuka bed. They can be served with rice as a side dish or with drinks (not only sake but green tea) as a snack.

I wanted to make tsukemono, but one but crucial problem deterred me, the maintenance of the nuka bed. The nuka bed requires stirring usually daily and twice a day in summer (when the temperature is high) to keep it from becoming putrescent, moldy or infested with vermin. 

Things changed when I lost my appetite recently because of summer fatigue due to a heat wave this year starting much earlier than usual, in late June. It's humid in June in Japan (i.e., the rainy season) but the temperature is usually not so high, less than 30°C, but it's different this year. The heat and humidity has been extremely high since late June, which affected me physically. I felt tired and lost my appetite. I came to want to eat vegetables but not salads with dressings (too greasy!). Then, it occurred to me that maybe I could eat tsukemono. But I don't like the ones sold in grocery stores, which are too salty. So, I decided to make them myself, not using the nuka-bed but using YOGURT and MISO!  

The recipe is simple and easy: 

(1) Rub cucumber with salt. (Do not slice.)

(2) Peel carrot and cut it lengthwise in half (or quarter).

(3) Put yogurt and miso (1:1) in a cooking bag.
(4) Put the salt rubbed cucumber and the carrot into the bag.
(5) Let it rest overnight (or longer) in the refrigerator.

(6) Before eating, wash them to remove the yogurt and miso.

(7) Slice them and EAT (with a little soy sauce if you like).

This recipe is well known in Japan. I knew it but honestly I didn't believe it. Tsukemono, one of the most traditional Japanese dishes and yogurt shouldn't go together but surprise, surprise, they're tsukemono! They taste a little more fresh than the tsukemono I've eaten so far but I don't know if it's due to the different type of lactic acid bacteria or the time of fermentation. I ate the tsukemono made by me the day after making, the following day, and the day after. The taste changed. So, if you want to enjoy stronger tsukemono (fermentation) flavor, maybe you should wait for two days or more. 

You can use almost any vegetables to make tsukemono. Now I'm thinking of making eggplant tsukemono.    

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きゅうりとニンジンの乱切り？ではありません。ヨーグルト味噌漬けです。あまりの暑さに夏バテし、食欲が落ちてしまって作りました。いやびっくり。漬物です。

ヨーグルトと味噌で糠漬けのようなものを作れることは知っていました。でも信じてなかったんです。でも本当に食欲が落ちてしまったときに食べたくなってしまって、でもスーパーのはしょっぱいでしょ。それで試してみたらいやいや驚きです。確かに糠の風味はありませんが、逆にさっぱりしてます。こんなに簡単だったんですね。しかも塩加減を調整できます。

次は茄子に挑戦だ～♬
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