Suguki-zuke Lactic-Fermented Turnip Pickles
Quick answer
- Total time
- 80 min
- Level
- Hard
- Servings
- 20 servings
- Ingredients
- 2
About this dish
Suguki-zuke is a Kyoto City pickle made from whole suguki turnips, a traditional Kyoto vegetable.
Read more
The roots and leaves are salted in preliminary and main pickling stages, held under a heavy stone, then moved into a dedicated warming chamber called a muro at about 40°C to promote lactic acid fermentation. Along with senmaizuke and shibazuke, it is counted among Kyoto's three prominent pickles. The salt-only method dates to the early Edo period around Kamigamo Shrine, and the modern warmed process develops its characteristic acidity in about two weeks. Suguki is harvested and pickled from mid-November to January, then the leaves and roots are cut separately for rice, ochazuke, or sake.
Ingredients
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Instructions
Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.
- 1Season
Wash 2000g whole suguki turnips with leaves without bruising them, remove soil and damaged sections, and dry the surface completely. Divide 120g salt accurately into 60g for preliminary pickling and 60g for main pickling.
- 2Season
Pack the suguki tightly in a sanitized, dry pickling vessel, sprinkling with the 60g preliminary salt.
Apply a heavy pickling stone that presses the entire batch and pre-pickle in a cool place for 24 hours, until liquid released by the suguki rises evenly around the top layer.
- 3Season
Remove the pre-pickled suguki, sprinkle with the remaining 60g salt, and rub it evenly over leaves and roots.
Repack tightly for the main pickling stage, replace the heavy stone, and leave for 48 hours. It is ready for warming when the volume has contracted and leaves and roots remain firmly pressed under the released liquid.
- 4Finish
Move the main-pickling vessel, still under its stone, into a dedicated muro chamber held steadily at about 40°C.
Warm for about 14 days to promote lactic fermentation, finishing when the initially salty suguki develops a distinct acidity. Do not substitute an uncontrolled room-temperature space.
- 5Finish
Cut the finished suguki leaves and roots separately.
Chop the leaves finely or into bite-size lengths, and slice the roots into 5mm half-moons or quarter rounds. Moisten lightly with the fermented liquid and serve in small portions with rice, ochazuke, or sake.
Practical Cooking Checks
The cues that matter most while cooking.
- Key technique
- Whole leafy suguki salted in two pickling stages
- Finish cue
- Cut the finished suguki leaves and roots separately.
- Avoid this
- The approximately 40°C muro stage requires dedicated equipment; do not attempt it at ordinary room temperature without a controllable, sanitary fermentation chamber.
Cooking decision evidence
Calculated Charim data and applicable official cooking and food safety guidance.
This recipe
80min, 2 ingredients
Category median
32min, 7 ingredients
Based on 163 recipes