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。
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.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteSissi: But how exactly hot is it?? You can't tell the exact temperature unless you have a thermometer, right?
ReplyDeleteI 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.
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.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that your carrot and burdock nukazuke are still very salty.
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.
ReplyDeleteKiki: That should be more than 860 yen! I hope your nukadoko will be a success!
ReplyDeleteSo far, the plastic wrap technique has been very successful, keeping film yeast from growing.
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?
ReplyDeletemuskrat: Sorry, I assumed by reading your comment that you were going to have the carrot and gobo nukazuke.
ReplyDeleteDoesn'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.
Thanks for explaining, Hiro-san. I've read that cabbage is most commonly used, but I don't buy cabbage that often.
ReplyDeleteHiroyuki, I have measured the temperature, it's 25°C (and more when I start cooking I suppose), so much too hot for nukadoko.
ReplyDeleteI have to be patient and wait until this cupboard under the window has a lower temperature.