An example of "instant" salt pickling. It takes only an hour for
these pickles to ripen, and they will keep, covered, in the
refrigerator for the better part of a week. Also appropriate for
cucumber sliced in thin wafers. Peel and seed large cucumbers.
To prepare:
Cut off greens from turnips and reserve. Wash turnips, peel, then
cut into very fine julienne strips. Wash greens, dry, then chop
finely.
Put turnip strips with finely chopped greens into a bowl and
sprinkle with salt. Table salt is fine. Knead with your hands and
mix thoroughly to draw water out of vegetable. In less than a
minute, a fair amount of liquid will be produced. Discard this
liquid.
Add the konbu and a 1" (2-1/2 cm) square of yuzu citron or lemon
rind. Let stand, lidded and with a light weight, for 1 hour at room
temperature.
To serve:
Pick out a portion from the bowl with chopsticks or fork and shake
off liquid. Arrange in a mound on individual pickle dish. You may
season with a few drops of soy sauce, if desired.
From "Japanese Cooking; A Simple Art" by Shizuo Tsuji, with an
introduction by M.F.K. Fischer. Kodansha International Ltd., Tokyo,
New York and San Francisco, 1980. ISBN 0-87011-399-2.
Note: The "lidded and with a light weight" refers to making them in
a Japanese pickle tub. A plate with a small rock in a nonreactive
pan will do.
