tsukemono

If you've ever had a Japanese meal, you've probably eaten some kind of tsukemono [pronounced ˈ(t)soōkēˈmōnō]. It could be made from a variety of vegetables, but the ones I've eaten most often have been made from cabbage, daikon, or cucumbers. You are usually served just a small amount in a bowl, as an accompaniment to your meal.

Historically speaking, Japanese meals were traditionally a bowl of rice with a little bit of pickled/preserved vegetables and a small amount of fish or other protein. Nowadays, they eat far more vegetables and meat to rice ratio as they are a much more affluent society than in generations past. But the meal is still made up of many dishes and flavors, with tsukemono being an important part of it.

Tsukemono literally means "pickled things". These Japanese preserved vegetables are usually pickled with salt or a brine and left for a time (like overnight) with a heavy weight on top of them. I learned how to make cabbage tsukemono from a Japanese-American woman named Lily.

Recently we were given two large organically-grown cabbages and I thought making some tsukemono would be a great way to use one of the cabbages.

free organic produce

I dug out her old recipe and made up my brine. I ended up making about 1-1/2 times the brine so I had enough for the large cabbage I used. Here's the original recipe:



Lily’s Cabbage Tsukemono

1/2 cup white vinegar
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons salt
1 head green cabbage, cut into about 6 wedges

Bring all ingredients (except cabbage) to boil and immediately pour over cabbage in a heat-proof bowl. Weight the cabbage down with a heavy weight (bag/bowl of something on top of a plate, for example). After it is ready (usually overnight) put cabbage and liquid into a jar and refrigerate.

tsukemono under weight

I made a weight using some sand we had, filling a large ziploc with the sand, then bagging it again in a clean plastic bag. I took great care to not let any of the sand escape and contaminate the cabbage. I placed this bag on top of a clean plate that would be able to settle down into the bowl as the cabbage softened and compressed. (Lily had a rock she used specifically for this purpose.)

Within a few hours the weight caused all of the cabbage to be submerged in the brine. After about 10-12 hours I moved the cabbage and the brine to a jar for refrigeration. (I had a bit more than would fit in one jar so I also made up some smaller containers for the freezer.)

tsukemono ready for the refrigerator

Making your own tsukemono isn't really all that much work.

And it tastes so good.

Try it sometime.