Tsukemono, or Japanese pickled vegetables, are a trademark snack or rice accompaniment found in all Japanese household. They’re an integral part of the Japanese diet, served before, during or after almost every meal. To not know about tsukemono is like not knowing about cheese in French cuisine or olive oil in Italy. They are at the heart of Japanese cooking. Nothing goes better than Japanese pickles with a hot steamy bowl of Japanese rice.
I’ve gotten into pickling lately; Korean pickles, pickled daikon, cucumber pickles and cucumber kimchi (spicy!), enjoying the simplicity and ease of adding intense flavors to vegetables. Pickling is also good for injecting B vitamins to your veggies, produced by bacteria, making them healthier to eat. This tsukemono recipe is as simple as you can find, consisting of only veggies and miso paste.
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Japanese pickles – tsukemono
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Category: Pickles
- Method: Marinating
- Cuisine: Japanese
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
A miso flavored Japanese pickle recipe that makes the perfect side dish.
Ingredients
- 2 carrots
- 2 zucchinis
- 2 turnips or 1 medium size daikon, peeled
- White miso paste
Instructions
- Using a mandoline or a knife, slice your veggies about 1/4 inch thick. Put veggies in a tupperware container (not too deep, like a plastic take-out container) or a pickle press and add miso paste one spoonful at a time, mixing it with the vegetables, until all veggies are coated.
- Cover and pickle for about 24 hours. Rinse the vegetables under water until all the miso paste is gone. Pat them dry with paper towel and leave uncovered for a couple of hours, to evaporate some of the water.
- Keep refrigerated.
- Serve with rice.
Notes
Keep tsukemono in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 126
- Sugar: 11g
- Sodium: 175mg
- Fat: 1.5g
- Saturated Fat: 0.1g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0.2g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 25.7g
- Fiber: 7g
- Protein: 4.8g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
hello! can we freeze them, or do you have any suggestions on how to conserve them longer than 2 weeks? Thanks! Manon
Hi Manon! Yes, you can freeze the pickles in a plastic storage bag. Thaw them in the fridge overnight when you are ready to eat them 🙂
For amount of vegetables in the recipe, approx. how much miso are you using Tbsp wise? Also, do you dry them uncovered in the fridge or room temp? Last question :), how long do this last in a container in the fridge?
Hi Craig! It’s hard to tell how much miso to use exactly, you basically need enough to cover the vegetables. However they don’t need to be submerged, they just need to be coated, so once you mix them with the miso, the veggies will release water making it it easier to stir. Start with one tablespoon, mix well, add another one, mix well, add another one, etc… I think around 1/4 cup should be close enough but it all depends on the size of vegetables you are using. I leave them uncovered on the counter when I’m doing a quick 1 hour pickle session and cover them with a lid when I refrigerate them. They will last about 2 weeks in the fridge 🙂
Yes Carmen, it’s that easy and super yummy!
That’s it? So easy? OMG, so making these!!!! Thank you Nika san!