Dried Squid Koji Pickle
Quick answer
- Active time
- 100 min
- Waiting
- See the steps
- Level
- Hard
- Servings
- 24 servings
- Ingredients
- 7
About this dish
Thin strips of dried squid spend ten days in the fridge in rice koji and a soy-based seasoning, slowly softening and taking on the koji's sweetness.
Read more
The old method aged it in weighted crocks; here nothing sits at room temperature, and it matures in the refrigerator from start to finish. A little goes on rice or alongside a drink.
Ingredients
Instructions
- 1
Sanitize a heatproof glass container, lid, tongs, and spatula with boiling water and dry completely.
Check the dates and chilled storage of the koji and pickled vegetables.
- 2
Cut 5 fully dried squid into strips 3mm wide and 3cm long.
Take 15ml from the measured sake, toss it with the squid, and rest 10 minutes.
- 3
Rinse 300g commercial salt-pickled vegetables in cold water as directed on the package, squeeze very dry in clean cloth, and chop to 5mm. Break 900g rice koji into separate grains with clean hands.
- 4
Bring 600ml soy sauce, the remaining 385ml sake, 200ml mirin, and 100g sugar to a full boil and hold 5 minutes.
Stir the pan over an ice bath and cool below 10°C within 2 hours.
- 5
Combine squid, koji, and vegetables in the sanitized container and mix with cold seasoning.
Fit a sanitized weight against the surface and refrigerate immediately at 4°C or colder for 10 days. Turn once daily with a sanitized spatula and return promptly to the refrigerator.
- 6
On day 10, discard the entire batch without tasting if there is mold, putrid odor, slimy growth, or abnormal gas.
If sound, serve with clean tongs, keep at 4°C or colder, and consume by day 14. Freeze any longer-held portions immediately.
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
鳥取県 · Checked: 2026-08-11
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