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Vegetables from Japan

Karashi-zuke (mustard-koji pickle, especially autumn eggplant)からし漬け

Karashi-zuke is a vegetable, most often autumn eggplant, first salted in brine and then packed into a bed of developed mustard mixed with koji and sake. The lid is sealed and the pickle is eaten after about a month. The sources read give a household method only.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Karashi-zuke itself.

DocumentedVegetables33 days – 34 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceHousehold method in old Japanese measures (1 to = 10 shō; 1 shō = 10 gō; 1 kan = 3.75 kg), as Japanese Wikipedia gives it.
Eggplant, calyx removed2 kan (about 7.5 kg)For a 1-to (about 18 L) barrel[s1]
Pre-pickling brine, boiled and cooled2 shō water with 1.5–2 gō salt[s1]
Mustard powder, developed with boiling waterAbout 2 shō[s1]
Koji, sakeMixed into the developed mustard; the source says koji and other things to taste[s1]
An old iron nail, burnt alum or a few drops of vinegar (optional)Keeps the eggplant's colour in the brine[s1]

Total time across the recorded steps: 33 days – 34 days

Start
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Close-up: salt moving into a grain

What changes: The eggplants sit 3–4 days in cooled brine under a stone

Step 1 of 3
Pre-pickle the eggplant in boiled, cooled brine under a stone
Time
3–4 days
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The brine is 2 shō of water with 1.5–2 gō of salt; no weight percentage is given. Output: salted eggplant.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
an old iron nail, burnt alum or a little vinegar keeps the eggplant's colour

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Karashi-zuke is a vegetable, most often autumn eggplant, first salted in brine and then packed into a bed of developed mustard mixed with koji and sake. The lid is sealed and the pickle is eaten after about a month. The sources read give a household method only. Made in 3 steps over 33 days – 34 days. The longest step, pack the eggplant into the mustard, koji and sake, and seal the lid, takes 30 days (Japanese Wikipedia 2026).

Key numbers
Main step30 daysReported[s1]Pack the eggplant into the mustard, koji and sake, and seal the lid

What makes this one different

Karashi-zuke pickles a salted vegetable in a developed mustard bed mixed with koji and sake. Kōji-zuke uses koji without the mustard, and sake-lees pickles such as narazuke use lees.

Related ferments

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

  1. [s1] Japanese Wikipedia, からし漬け (製法 section), read 2026-10wiki