Pickled Wasabi Zuke

Wasabi Zuke is a popular pickled dish served in Japan and can be prepared by using all parts of the wasabi plant. It is a typical dish cultivated in the Shizuoka Prefecture which is the home of wasabi in Japan. It is prepared by chopping by mixing cultivated leaves, flowers, leafstalks and the ground roots with saltwater, sake and sugar. Wasabi Zuke can be a great dinner dish or even a suitable side dish, especially with beverages. These types of dishes are called kasuzuke (food pickled in the lees from sake brewing). Merchants developed wasabi Zuke in Fuchu, modern-day Shizuoka: this cuisine flourished in the Edo Period.

A traditional Japanese recipe for wasabi zuke

Wasabi Zuke it is a rare and expensive delicacy

The following recipe will serve 6-8 people – depending on your portion size

You will require:

Fresh wasabi rhizomes: 375 g

Wasabi leaves and stems: 375 g

Sake kasu/sake white lees: 500 g

Salt: 37 g

Sugar: 120 g

Mirin/sweet sake: optional

Directions:

  1. First, chop up the fresh wasabi stems
  2. Mix the chopped stems and roots together
  3. Then add the salt, mix well and rest for 20 minutes
  4. Remove most of the water by pressing the mixture
  5. Soften the mixture by adding sake lees
  6. Add the sugar
  7. Mix the whole mixture by hand to produce a paste
  8. Taste and then add more sake if required
  9. Fill small containers with the wasabi zuke

The fresh wasabi zuke can be served steamed white rice, baked poultry, sausages or what ever dish you desire

Enjoy your fresh wasabi – providing new foods for your table!

Sofia Kitson, Blogger