Senmaizuke (Thin Turnip and Kombu Pickle)

Name: Senmaizuke (Thin Turnip and Kombu Pickle)
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 5 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: Shogoin turnip 1000 g; salt 20 g; kombu 45 g; dried chili 2 piece; rice vinegar 200 ml; sugar 90 g; mirin 40 ml

Quick answer

Active time: 30 min
Waiting: See the steps
Level: Easy
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients: 7

About this dish

Shogoin turnip sliced paper-thin is layered with kombu and chili in a cooled sweet vinegar that the kombu turns slightly viscous.

The Kyoto name means roughly a thousand sheets, a nod to the many thin slices. It is a short two-stage cure, one day in salt and one in sweet vinegar, meant to keep the turnip fresh and tenderly crisp.

Ingredients

servings

IngredientAmount

dried chili2 piece

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Instructions

5 steps

1

Trim the top and root and peel about 3mm deep to remove the fibrous layer.

Slice crosswise into uniform 2mm rounds with a slicer or knife.
2

Toss turnip gently with 20g salt for 2 minutes.

Pack flat in a nonreactive container, weight with about 1.5 times the turnip weight, and cure under refrigeration for 24 hours.
3

Bring vinegar, 90g sugar, and 40ml mirin to a boil and stir for 2 minutes to dissolve.

Cool completely. Wipe kombu and cut to 3mm strips; seed and thinly slice chilies.
4

Drain salted turnip for 10 minutes without rinsing or wringing.

In a clean container, repeat layers of turnip with small amounts of kombu and chili.
5

Pour over the cold sweet vinegar and add a light weight equal to about half the turnip weight.

Refrigerate for 24 hours, turn the layers once, and serve cold.