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Fermentation Atlas

Vegetables from Kiso, Nagano, Japan

Sunki (salt-free turnip-leaf pickle)すんき

unsalted sour turnip leaves eaten in soups and on soba. Made in 5 steps over 8 days – 2 months. The longest step, move to cold place and ferment slowly, takes 7 days – 2 months (Japanese Wikipedia 2026) and runs at up to 0 °C (Japanese Wikipedia 2026). Salt is 0 % (MAFF GI register no. 34). Lentilactobacillus kisonensis and Lactobacillus plantarum do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step7 days – 2 monthsReported[jawiki-sunki]Move to cold place and ferment slowly
Temperatureup to 0 °CReported[jawiki-sunki]Move to cold place and ferment slowly
Salt0 %Reported[s1][maff-sunki]Pack in barrel with seed (tane) from previous batch
AciditypH 3–4.5Reported[jawiki-sunki]Move to cold place and ferment slowly
DocumentedVegetables8 days – 2 monthsMore vegetablesMore from Japan

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedWhat goes in. No source gives amounts for this ferment.
leaves and stems of red Kiso turnips (six local types: Kaida, Ōtaki, Mitake-Kurose, Yoshino, Ashijima, Hosojima), picked after frost
sunki-dane seed: dried or frozen sunki from last year; formerly crushed wild crab-apple (zumi) or wild grape
no salt
Starter: backslop

Total time across the recorded steps: 8 days – 2 months

Start
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60 °C

What changes: Turnip leaves and stems are dipped in water at about 60 °C

Step 1 of 5
Blanch leaves and stems
Time
Not documented
Temperature
60 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
L. kisonensis
Lactobacillus plantarum
Lactobacillus spp.
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

hot water sterilises the leaf surface; blanching also stops the leaf proteases, so little protein is lost

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

What makes this one different

Sunki uses no salt at all. The leaves are blanched, then soured by last year's seed, and only very cold winters keep the sourness in check.

Related ferments

Safety

Without salt, safety depends on a fast, strong acid drop from a vigorous seed.

History and sources

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

At least 300 years old: a linked verse of the Bashō school names "Kiso no sunki". Producers claim over 400 years. Tokyo University of Agriculture has studied sunki starter strains since 2003.

  1. [s1] MAFF GI register no. 34, Kiso Sunkigov
  2. [s2] NARO, NMR and GC-MS metabolomics of sunki, Food Chemistry 2018, doi 10.1016/j.foodchem.2018.03.038paper
  3. [s3] DSMZ, Lentilactobacillus kisonensis DSM 19906other
  4. [maff-sunki] MAFF うちの郷土料理 (Our Regional Cuisines), すんき漬け, slug sunki_zuke_nagano, read 2026-10-16gov
  5. [jawiki-sunki] Japanese Wikipedia, すんき漬け (解説, 作り方), read 2026-10-16wiki