July 7, 2012

Furuzuke Dressed with Young Ginger/古漬けの新生姜和え

Furuzuke refers to a vegetable or other food pickled for a long period of time.  For example, it can refer to a cucumber pickled in nukadoko for two or more days intentionally or inadvertently.  It can also refer to cucumbers pickled in salt intentionally for a long period of time for storage purposes.
If you think that furuzuke is good for nothing, you are sadly mistaken.

Two cucumbers, pickled in the nukadoko for two days and then stored in the fridge for another two days:
古漬けとは、長い間漬けた野菜などの食べ物を指します。例えば、ぬか床に二日以上(わざと、または、うっかり)漬けたきゅうりを指すこともありますし、保存のために故意に長期間塩漬けしたきゅうりを指すこともあります。
古漬けなんて何の役にも立たないと思ったら、大きな間違いです。

ぬか床に二日間漬けて、冷蔵庫でもう二日間保存しておいたきゅうり二本。


Thinly slice them.
薄切りにします。


Taste some slices.  If they are salty, soak in water for a few minutes to remove some salt.  Don't remove all salt.

味見します。塩辛かったら、水に数分漬けて、塩分を少し抜きます。完全には抜かないこと。

Cut shin shoga (young ginger), shown on the right in the photo below, into thin strips.
新生姜(下の写真の右側)を千切りにします。


Combine them:
合わせます。


Put some on hot rice, sprinkle some soy sauce, and eat!
温かいご飯に乗せ、しょう油を少しかけて、食べます!

2 comments:

Sissi said...

It looks a bit like European cucumber pickled in salty brine... which means very appetising for me. It sounds excellent with young ginger.

Hiroyuki said...

Sissi: Probably so, because Japanese cucumber furuzuke (pickled in salt for a long time) look a lot like cucumbers pickled in nukadoko, but I guess the flavor is different because of the acute nukazuke flavor of the latter.

This morning, I mixed some of the dish with natto and had it with hot rice. Very delicious indeed!