8th May – 皐月
漬物 (Tsukemono)- mainly vegetable soaked in salt, vinegar or rice wine to make the veggies last longer. Making 漬物 is such an easy work so it is believed to have existed already 2000 years ago. At that time, people already knew how to extract salt from sea water.
There are various types of 漬物, some of the examples are:
-ぬか漬け(NukaZuke)
Pickle food in fermented rice bran bed.
-粕漬け (Kasuzuke)
Pickle food in Mirin lees (sweet wine) or in rice wine lees
-味噌漬け (Misozuke)
Pickling food in Miso (soy bean paste)
Those ones are generally pickled for a longer time (more than a day ~ a months or more).
On the other hand, 浅漬け (Asazuke) also known as お新香 (Oshinko) 一夜漬け (Ichiyazuke) is pickled only for short period (few hours to a day). Eggplants, cucumbers and reddish are often used for 浅漬け.
Not only vegetables, but also seafood and meats can be pickled and give brilliant tastes!
漬物 can vary in the region too, so it has own way to make them or even different tastes and looks. Thus, 漬物 shows the cultures and natural features of the area.
When you go to Japanese restaurant, you might have seen one of those:
-たくあん (Takuan)
Radish pickles which often have yellow color
-福神漬け (FukujinZuke)
Some ingredients pickled in soy sauce and Mirin. Red colored sweet Tsukemono often comes with curry
-柴漬け (Shibazuke)
Pickled eggplants with purple color.
If you haven’t tried them yet, you should try!!!:)
Little Japan Dictionary 