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Jul 4, 2012

Pickling cucumbers in rice bran

 Pickling vegetables is not only a way to make them delicious but to preserve them for longer. As many cucumbers are harvested, I've been eager to make "糠漬け (Nukazuke)", one of the Japanese traditional pickled vegetables in rice bran. When I was a child, my mother or my grandma got tons of rice bran for free from a local rice shop since rice bran was seen as just by-product at that time. Many Japanese households had their own taste of the Nukazuke with adding variety seasonings to rice bran.
 Now we can buy a packed rice bran, which is specialized for the pickled vegetables, mixed with salt, pepper, and other seasonings in local shops and I also tried it.
 First, I have to make "a rice bran bed" for cucumber to be pickled there. Add water to the rice bran and mix them up with hands to make it sticky. We have to care amount of water to be added since too much water make the bed too watery.
 When the rice bran bed is completed, put cucumbers onto the bed and,,,,,
cover them fully with the rice bran and keep it in a fridge for a few days.
 After 2 days, I found water coming out of cucumbers in a cup inside the Tupperware which shows the cucumbers had been pickled well and ready to be served. 
  The taste was moderately salty, juicy and very crispy! They go well with steamed rice but my favorite way to enjoy pickled cucumbers is to eat them with cold beer!


10 comments:

Anonymous said...

How long can you leave the container of cucumbers and bran in the fridge? This looks pretty cool and I would love to try it.

takaeko said...

>Adele
We can leave them for a week in a fridge. I love cucumbers pickled for long time since the taste become sour.
I hope you can try it if you can get rice bran in your place.

Charmcitybalconygarden said...

Looks great! I know my mom used to make these when we all lived in the States. Maybe one day I will try too.

Mac said...

That looks yummy, can the rice bran be reused? How many times can you pickle in it?

takaeko said...

>Charm
Is rice bran available in the US? Great!
I hope you also try it!

>Mac
Well, we should mix rice bran bed up and down once a day to let microbes breath oxygen. That makes your rice bran bed reusable for about 2weeks.

Bom said...

I love pickled vegetables. I wonder if there is rice bran available locally. In a country that grows rice, it should be, right?

takaeko said...

>Bom
Yes, it should be, Bom.
But I wonder if people in your country would see rice bran useful. Rice bran is a by-product in rice milling process so they might throw it away. If you find some rice mills around you, go there to get it.

Jo@awholeplotoflove said...

Hi, i have been reading through your blog & read this post with interest. I have googled to see if i can buy rice bran here in the uk & i can. i shall hope to try this soon.

takaeko said...

>awholeplotoflove
Thank you for reading my blog.
It's great to find Rice bran is sold in UK! How do people in your country use it usually?
Anyway, I hope you can pickle your vegetables successfully!

HVAC Contractors Plainfield said...

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