October 17, 2011

My Nukadoko on Oct. 17/私のぬか床、10月17日

My nukadoko today, October 17:
今日、10月17日の私のぬか床:
I added 1 tsp salt one day last week and another 1 tsp last Saturday, but film yeast kept forming on the surface, so last night, I placed a sheet of plastic wrap on top of the nukadoko to keep out the air, and I sealed the container tightly with the lid.
先週のある日、塩を小さじ1杯足し、また土曜日にも同じく1杯足したのですが、それでも産膜酵母が表面にできるので、昨晩、ぬか床の上にラップを敷いて空気が入らないようにし、また容器を蓋でしっかり閉めました。
No film yeast visible where the wrap is in contact with the nukadoko.
ラップがぬか床に密接している部分には、産膜酵母は見当りません。

Daikon nukazuke is tasty enough, but I found that the cucumber was not pickled enough.
大根のぬか漬けは美味しかったですが、きゅうりは十分に漬かっていませんでした。
Nukazuke is still a process of trial and error for me.
まだ私にとってはぬか漬けは試行錯誤の連続です。

10 comments:

Sissi said...

I am afraid to make nukadoko now. It's very hot inside, radiators have started to work, but it's quite warm outside. I will work until it gets really cold. I have a cupboard below the window and it's colder there during the whole Winter.

muskratbyte said...

I started my nukadoko, and have pickled bits of carrot and burdock (ごぼ), but they don't have the right taste yet. I think by next week, it should begin pickling properly.

Hiroyuki said...

Sissi: But how exactly hot is it?? You can't tell the exact temperature unless you have a thermometer, right?

I remember that I suggested avoiding placing the lid tightly here:
http://hiro-shio.blogspot.com/2011/06/final-notes-for-now-on-nukadoko-and_24.html

I guess I was wrong. It's really hard to tell the right things to do in nukadoko maintenance.

Hiroyuki said...

muskrat: You mean you have started hon-zuke 本漬け already? I think you need to do sute-zuke 捨て漬け for one week to ten days to fully ferment your nukadoko.
I'm sure that your carrot and burdock nukazuke are still very salty.

Fräulein Trude said...

Just now I ordered rice bran online. 1 kg / 8.60 Euros - and this was a bargain... I must be crazy. But I am so curious about nukadoko, I have to give it a try, no matter what.

Hiroyuki said...

Kiki: That should be more than 860 yen! I hope your nukadoko will be a success!
So far, the plastic wrap technique has been very successful, keeping film yeast from growing.

muskratbyte said...

Hiro-san, you're right. The burdock and carrot were both very salty. These were just the vegetables I had on hand. The instructions I have were to use any bits of vegetable I have on hand... add them, then remove them and replace with new ones the next day, for the first week to ten days, until the veggies begin pickling properly. What is the difference between honzuke and sutezuke?

Hiroyuki said...

muskrat: Sorry, I assumed by reading your comment that you were going to have the carrot and gobo nukazuke.
Doesn't your instructions recommend those outer cabbage leaves that are usually just thrown out? Many recipes recommend them because they contain fermentation enzymes.

Sutezuke (sute < suteru = to throw away, to discard) refers to the initial phase of nukadoko making where vegetable scraps are added to the nukadoko to fully ferment it, so that honzuke (hon = real, authentic) can be started.

muskratbyte said...

Thanks for explaining, Hiro-san. I've read that cabbage is most commonly used, but I don't buy cabbage that often.

Sissi said...

Hiroyuki, I have measured the temperature, it's 25°C (and more when I start cooking I suppose), so much too hot for nukadoko.
I have to be patient and wait until this cupboard under the window has a lower temperature.