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Vegetables from Aso

Takana-zuke (Aso and Setaka)阿蘇高菜漬け

Takana-zuke is Kyūshū mustard greens layered in a tub with salt and chilli, trodden or pressed hard and kept under a lid and weight. A light pickle is ready in about 3 days, while a saltier one ferments for half a year or a year into a sour furuzuke. The old pickle is chopped and fried in oil, as in takana-meshi rice.

Fully documentedVegetables6.4 months – 12 months

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceTwo household recipes from MAFF regional-cuisine pages, one for a pickle container of Aso takana (Kumamoto prefecture's recipe book) and one for a 10 L tub of Setaka takana (a Miyama maker).
Aso takana, freshly picked (Aso recipe)10 kg[maff-aso]
Salt (Aso light pickle)400 g (4 % of the greens)6 % for a half-year furuzuke, 8 % for a one-year furuzuke[maff-aso]
Chilli (Aso recipe)A little[maff-aso]
Takana (Setaka recipe, for a 10 L tub)6 kg[maff-setaka]
Salt (Setaka recipe)1 kg[maff-setaka]
Chilli (Setaka recipe)50 g powder and 10 pods[maff-setaka]
Turmeric (Setaka recipe, added for storage)100 g[maff-setaka]
Pressing weight (Setaka recipe)15 kg[maff-setaka]

Total time across the recorded steps: 6.4 months – 12 months

Start
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What changes: Starting material: takana stems snapped off by hand in March and April

Step 1 of 7
Hand-snap harvest (takana-ori)
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The thick stems have a point where they snap, so they are still picked by hand, not machine.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

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

Takana-zuke is Kyūshū mustard greens layered in a tub with salt and chilli, trodden or pressed hard and kept under a lid and weight. A light pickle is ready in about 3 days, while a saltier one ferments for half a year or a year into a sour furuzuke. The old pickle is chopped and fried in oil, as in takana-meshi rice. Made in 7 steps over 6.4 months – 12 months. The longest step, long lactic fermentation (furuzuke), takes 6–12 months (MAFF 2026). Salt is 4 % (MAFF 2026).

Key numbers
Main step6–12 monthsReported[maff-aso][maff-setaka]Long lactic fermentation (furuzuke)
Salt4 %Reported[maff-aso]Layer with salt and chilli and press hard

What makes this one different

Unlike nozawana-zuke, takana-zuke is a spring pickle of stems snapped off by hand, and it is made at two strengths, a 4 % light pickle and a 6–8 % pickle fermented for months. The Saga okomoji is desalted and fried, which MAFF notes cuts its salt [maff-saga].

Related ferments

Safety

The Aso recipe uses salt at 4 % of the greens for the 3-day pickle and 6 % or 8 % for pickles kept 6 months or a year. The brine that rises over the lid is wiped off every 2-3 days and poured away after a week. The Setaka maker presses out the water and stores the pickle with turmeric and chilli under weight. Soaking the old pickle overnight before frying lowers its salt [maff-aso, maff-setaka, maff-saga].

History and sources

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

Takana-zuke began to circulate in the Meiji era. A green brought from Sichuan, China was crossed with a local variety to make the large Miike takana, which was trial-grown in the Chikugo region, especially Setaka in Miyama [maff-setaka].

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [maff-aso] MAFF, Uchi no kyōdo ryōri, 阿蘇高菜漬け (Kumamoto); recipe from くまもとのふるさとの食レシピ集 下巻 (Kumamoto Prefecture), read 2026-10-23gov
  2. [maff-setaka] MAFF, Uchi no kyōdo ryōri, 瀬高の高菜漬け (Fukuoka); recipe by Kōno Michiko of Setaka, Miyama, read 2026-10-23gov
  3. [maff-saga] MAFF, Uchi no kyōdo ryōri, おこもじの油炒め (Saga), read 2026-10-23gov