Can anyone recommend a good brand of japanese pickles?

Question

Can anyone recommend a good brand of mixed japanese pickles that DOES NOT CONTAIN AUBERGINE (EGGPLANT).

I love them when I go to Wagamama, but the only ones I can buy at our local oriental supermarket have aubergines in.

I am violently allergic to aubergines (they can kill me) so obviously I can't get them.

Anyone know a good brand to get?

Answer 1

Hiroshima brand. they are the best

Answer 2

1 small head of regular cabbage (3/4 pound),

the leaves cut into pieces about an inch square

1 medium sized carrot, cut into matchstick slices about an inch long

1 Japanese cucumber, unpeeled and cut into matchstick

slices about an inch long

4 tablespoons of salt

Place vegetable slices into the pickle press (or jar) and add one teaspoon of salt, mix well by stirring with your hands. Add the second teaspoon of salt and mix again. Add the final tablespoon of salt and mix well. Clamp on the top of the pickle press and s***w down the lid until it pushes down tightly on the top layer of vegetables. Leave under pressure overnight or for at least 10 hours. Remove the pickles from the press and place them in a colander, wash them well to remove salt, pat them dry and serve.

NUKA-ZUKE (rice bran pickles)

Pickles made from rice bran... nuka-zuke, are delicious and easy to make. They have a pungent aroma, a tangy flavor, and are very nutritious since they harbor vitamins and minerals from the rice bran. Unlike salt pickles, nuka-zuke last for only a few days once removed from the pickling medium. It is best to pluck them fresh from the pickling medium, wash them, pat them dry and then immediately eat them. Like all Japanese pickles, these are particularly tasty with sake or beer!

In order to make nuka-zuke you will need a large wide mouthed glass jar or ceramic pot with a tight fitting lid, I use a large glass jar with a lid that clamps shut (plastic, wood, or metal containers won't work for this pickling method). A jar with at least a quart capacity is required. Begin by purchasing a package of nuka (rice bran) from an Asian food store. Some brands already have salt and other agents mixed into the bran, I like doing this myself so I purchase plain dry roasted rice bran.

Place 6 cups of rice bran and 1 tablespoon of salt in a bowl and add 1 3/4 to 2 cups of water. Mix together with your hands until the bran has the consistency of slightly moist sand. Place some of the moist bran in your jar and then add a small 2 inch strip of konbu seaweed (this helps maintain the moisture balance in your pickling medium), add more bran to cover and then add 2 cloves of peeled but uncut garlic (this adds much flavor to the final pickles, you can also use a small k**b of fresh ginger). Continue to fill the jar with bran and then add 2 dried red peppers (this adds flavor to the pickles but also discourages bugs from entering the rice bran mix.

Finish filling the jar with bran, making sure that the konbu, peppers, and garlic are completely buried. It will take at least a week for the rice bran medium to ripen and be ready for use. You can speed up this process by adding vegetable scraps (peels from cucumbers, wilted cabbage leaves), to the bran but remove the scraps after a day or two. After a week or so the pickling medium should have a heady aroma and look like damp sand. It will then be ready to use.

A nice batch of rice bran medium can last for years, if it becomes too wet after much use just add a little bit of dry rice bran. A good trick to prevent your rice bran bed from getting too soggy is to ad a handful of dried soybeans to the mix! The beans absorb excess moisture and also impart a mild flavor. It's also a good idea to "air out" the mix on occasion, stirring it up with your hands or a spoon. Vegetables to be pickled should be completely embedded in the rice bran and left in the pickling medium for no more than two days. The finished pickles should be bright in color, limp but crunchy, and possess a subtle aroma and earthy aftertaste. Good pickles are only slightly salty and have a delightful tangy flavor to them. It takes some effort to keep the pickling bed in good shape, for instance, in summer your bed can sprout white mold... if that happens just pluck out the mold, air out the bed, and add a bit of fresh rice bran. Tending your pickling bed takes work... but the delicious pickles are well worth the effort!

VEGETABLES TO PICKLE IN RICE BRAN

(1) carrots, cut into spears about an inch long

(2) Japanese eggplants (nasu), unpeeled, pierced with a knife, and cut into segments about one inch long

(3) Japanese cucumbers (kyuri), pierced with a knifeand cut into segments about an inch long

(4) broccoli, cut off excess stem and imbed small flowerets

(5) daikon, cut into rounds about 1/4 inch thick (you can also cut them into half moon shapes)

(6) Japanese turnips (kabu), slice off the greens and cut a deep X into the stem area before embedding in the rice bran. You can also embed the turnip greens to be pickled

MISO-ZUKE (miso pickles)

The oldest known variety of Japanese pickle was made using miso. Miso imparts it's flavor to whatever vegetable you're pickling, with red or white miso giving different results. Miso pickles take a long time to mature and many types are allowed to cure for years before eating. Parboiling the vegetables for a few minutes allows for a shorter pickling time, but remember, the longer the pickles are allowed to rest in the miso, the more fragrant and flavorful the pickle. Here are a few choices for making miso-zuke using this quick parboiling method.

VEGETABLES TO PICKLE IN MISO

(1) carrots, cut into spears about an inch long, parboil and pat dry before embedding in red miso for at least 3 months (preferably longer)

(2) burdock root (gobo), cut into spears about an inch long, parboil and pat dry before embedding in red miso for at least 3 months (preferably longer)

(3) asparagus, parboil and pat dry before embedding in white miso overnight

(4) beefsteak leaves (shiso), embed in red or white miso for at least 1 month. Use chopped as a filling for rice balls!

(5) daikon, cut into rounds about 1/4 inch thick (you can also cut them into half moon shapes). embed in red miso for at least 3 months

(6) Japanese cucumbers (kyuri), cut into rounds about 1/2 inch thick, salt press, then embed in red or white miso for at least 4 months.

NINNIKU MISO-ZUKE (garlic pickled in miso)

12 cloves of garlic

1 cup of red miso

Remove the outer skin from the garlic and then parboil the cloves for about 3 minutes. Pat dry and then cut the garlic lengthwise into halves. Fill a small glass jar (or small lidded tupperware) with about one cup of red miso. Embed the garlic in the miso, making certain that the garlic is completely covered (add more miso if necessary). Cover the container and refrigerate, after 3 months you can remove the garlic from the miso. Pluck just the amount you will use for the meal, leaving the rest of the garlic to continue pickling. Wash and pat dry before serving. Once you've eaten all of the delicious garlic pickles, the miso used in the pickling can then be used to make a delectable miso soup!

Answer 3

Probably difficult......  because aubergines and cucumbers are main pickles in Japan.

Answer 4

Look up the Japan Centre in London, it's near the Trocadero, or if you not in London then they are on the Internet.

Well worth the trip!