Misozuke: basic miso pickles

What is Misozuke:

You can get a hint from the name: Misozuke are pickles preserved in miso. The Japanese pickling tradition is a deep well; there are many amazing methods out there. For example, you can also make kojizuke (pickles in koji), kasuzuke (pickles in sake lees), etc. This is just one of the more simple ways to enjoy miso and crunchy vegetables.

If you are looking for a deep dive on Japanese pickles, I have really enjoyed The Japanese art of Pickling and Fermenting by Yoko Nakazawa.

What should I pickle?

This particular recipe suits firm crunchy vegetables that can be eaten raw, like daikon, carrot, or turnip. The vegetables will be packed into the pickling bed and refrigerated. They can be enjoyed after a few hours, but are better after a few days. They will last for weeks in the fridge, and you can just take them out as you need them.

Pickling Bed?

Where the pickles sleep, of course. The container where you put the pickling medium and the prepared vegetables. You will need a non-reactive tray such as glass or enamel, something easy to sanitize, with a lid.

Preparing the pickling medium:

This is the mixture of miso and other ingredients that you use to pickle the vegetables. If you use a young sweet miso, you might not need to add anything to it. If you are using a mature miso that is a bit dryer and saltier, you can add some mirin to loosen it up, and a small amount of sugar to balance the salt. You want it to be something like the consistency of Greek yogurt. Taste it and see how you like it. Feel free to add a little salt or sugar. This can be prepared ahead of time.

Vegetable preparation

Peel and slice your vegetables into the desired shape. Small batons are good, as are thick slices. Think about a shape that you could easily pick up with chopsticks and put into your mouth. Toss your cut vegetables with coarse salt and leave them in a colander to draw out moisture. You can place small plate on top, with a weight like a kitchen mortar to help this process along. Depending on how firm you like them, you can leave them for up to a day like this, or even longer if you want very firm, long-lasting pickles. At least a few hours for a short term pickle is necessary, if you don’t want them to turn mushy later on.

Putting it together

After you have salted and drained the vegetables for several hours, you can dry them off with a clean cloth. Some people rinse them and then dry them to remove the salt. I don’t really find it necessary, but I use quite coarse salt which is easy to wipe off, and don’t add salt to the pickling medium - so a little extra doesn’t matter. Pack the vegetables into the pickling bed with the miso\mirin mixture so that they are surrounded by it, then refrigerate. They should be ready to eat after half a day but will improve with time.

That’s it?

Pretty much. As the miso draws out moisture from the vegetables it can collect at the top of the pickling bed. Just carefully tip it out. The pickles can be removed as needed and will last several weeks. You can even use the leftover pickling medium to make a dressing or sauce. Or you can re-use the pickling medium with another batch of prepared vegetables. Over time it will lose it’s flavour and the salt concentration will drop, but you can get a few uses before this happens.