Sunki-zuke (Salt-Free Fermented Turnip Greens)
Quick answer
- Active time
- 60 min
- Waiting
- See the steps
- Level
- Hard
- Servings
- 20 servings
- Ingredients
- 2
About this dish
Red turnip greens fermented with a live sunki starter and no salt at all make a pickle that is clean and sour rather than salty.
Read more
The turnips are a red variety from the Kiso area of Nagano. With no salt in play, safety rests on acidity: the liquid is tested with pH strips or a meter and must read 4.6 or lower before anyone tastes it. Yogurt or ordinary kimchi juice cannot stand in for the starter. Mold, a rotten smell or stringy slime means the whole batch is thrown out untasted, and once fermentation is confirmed it moves to the fridge at 4°C or below.
Ingredients
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Instructions
- 1
Clean and sanitize a food-safe fermentation vessel, tongs, and knife with boiling water or a suitable food-contact sanitizer.
Wash 3kg red turnip greens, retain a little of each crown where root meets stem, separate roots and stems, and cut into 1 to 2cm pieces.
- 2
Bring a large pot of water to 60C.
Working in batches, immerse the greens evenly for 1 to 2 minutes, lift them with sanitized tongs, and drain lightly. Reserve the blanching liquid and cool it to 45C.
- 3
While the greens remain warm, place one layer in the vessel and spread over part of the 700g active sunki starter.
Continue alternating greens and starter until both are used, handling them with sanitized tongs rather than bare hands.
- 4
Pour in enough blanching liquid cooled to 45C to cover the greens.
Keep them below the liquid with a sanitized fermentation weight or a sealed food-safe bag filled with water, remove as much trapped air as possible, and close the vessel.
- 5
Place the closed vessel in an insulated box in a warm location for 24 hours.
The next day, discard the entire batch without tasting if mold, a putrid odor, or abnormal ropy slime appears. Before tasting, verify that the liquid is at pH 4.6 or below with strips or a calibrated meter; discard it if acidity is insufficient. If there are no abnormal signs and acidity is confirmed, check the taste with clean utensils and discard the batch if clean sourness has not developed.
- 6
Once fermentation is confirmed, refrigerate immediately at 4C or colder.
For fuller acidity, mature it under refrigeration for another 2 to 3 days. If mold, a putrid odor, or abnormal ropy slime appears, do not taste it and discard the entire batch.
References checked
These references were consulted when this page was prepared or corrected. A source check does not mean the recipe was independently kitchen-tested.
- 일본 농림수산성 うちの郷土料理
長野県ふるさと体験館 · Checked: 2026-08-11