Tsukemono

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Tsukemono (漬物) ("pickled things") are Japanese pickles. They are served with rice, and sometimes with beverages as an otsumami.

A dish of tsukemono

The most common kinds are pickled in salt or brine. Soy sauce, miso, vinegar, rice bran (nuka), and sake lees (sake kasu) are also useful for pickling.

Takuan (daikon), umeboshi (ume plum), turnip, cucumber, and Chinese cabbage are among the favorites to be eaten with rice as an accompaniment to a meal. Beni shoga (red ginger) is used as a garnish on okonomiyaki, takoyaki and yakisoba. Gari (sushi ginger) is used between dishes of sushi to cleanse the palate. Rakkyōzuke (a type of onion) is often served with Japanese curry.

Traditionally, the Japanese prepared tsukemono themselves with a tsukemonoki. Pickling was one of the fundamental ways to preserve food. Nowadays, tsukemono can be bought readily in the supermarket, but many Japanese still make their own. Typically, all that's needed to make pickles is a container with the food to be pickled, salt, and pressure on top of the pickles.

A tsukemonoki (漬物器, literally: vessel for pickled things) is a Japanese pickle press. The pressure was generated using heavy stones called tsukemonoishi (漬物石, literally: stone for pickled things) with a weight of 1 to 2 kilograms, sometimes more. This type is still in use, with the container being plastics, wood, glass or ceramics. Before tsukemonoishi came into use, the pressure was applied by driving a wedge between a handle of the vessel and its cover.

The weights are either stone or metal, with a convenient handle on top and often covered with a layer of food-neutral plastic. Another modern type of pickle press is usually made from plastic, and the necessary pressure is generated by turning a screw and clamping down onto the pickles.