Yukina Fusube-zuke
Quick answer
- Total time
- 40 min
- Level
- Medium
- Servings
- 4 servings
- Ingredients
- 2
About this dish
Yukina fusube-zuke is an Okitama pickle from Yamagata that dips snow-grown yukina in boiling water three times for only three seconds each, then presses it with salt to release a mustard-like pungency.
Read more
Fusuberu is a local word for briefly scalding. Raw yukina is slightly bitter, but controlled heat develops volatile isothiocyanate aroma. The vegetable is said to have been encouraged by Lord Uesugi Yozan to provide winter greens in deep snow, where bundled plants use their own leaves to grow pale flower stalks. The key is to stop just before it becomes a cooked green, seal tightly so the aroma does not escape, cure at 4°C or colder for three days, and finish within one week.
Ingredients
As an Amazon Associate, we may earn from qualifying purchases.
Instructions
Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.
- 1Prep
Wash 400g yukina under running water, remove green leaves and damaged areas, cut to 3cm, and split thick stem bases lengthwise into halves or quarters.
- 2Heat
Bring ample water to a full boil in a wide pot and place yukina in a fitted colander.
Prepare ice water nearby and sanitize the pickling container and weight with boiling water, drying completely.
- 3Heat
With the water still boiling strongly, submerge the colander for 3 seconds and lift immediately.
Shake to turn the greens and repeat twice more, for three scalds total.
- 4Control
After the last scald, cover the colander and steam in residual heat for 90 seconds.
Immediately chill in ice water, change the water once, cool through under cold running water, and squeeze firmly in clean cloth.
- 5Season
Sprinkle 8g salt evenly over cold yukina and mix 1 minute with gloved hands.
Pack tightly in the sanitized container, add about 800g weight, and seal with thick food-safe film.
- 6Control
Refrigerate immediately at 4°C or colder.
When liquid rises, reduce the weight to about 400g, reseal, and cure for 3 days without exposing the greens to air.
- 7Finish
On day 3, remove only the serving amount with clean tongs and reseal at once.
Eat while mustard-like aroma and crunch remain and finish within 7 days. Discard without tasting if mold, slime, gas, or foul odor appears.
Practical Cooking Checks
The cues that matter most while cooking.
- Key technique
- Yukina scalded three times for three seconds
- Finish cue
- On day 3, remove only the serving amount with clean tongs and reseal at once.
- Avoid this
- Do not replace them with one long boil.
- Storage and reheating
- Refrigerate immediately at 4°C or colder.
Cooking decision evidence
Calculated Charim data and applicable official cooking and food safety guidance.
This recipe
40min, 2 ingredients
Category median
32min, 7 ingredients
Based on 163 recipes
Use-up ingredient planner
Find the next meal for these ingredients
The overlap excludes basic seasonings. Open the next recipe and your selected dishes will stay with you.
