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5 from 5 votes
Fukujinzuke in a bowl.
Home-made Fukujinzuke (Pickled Vegetables for Japanese Curry)
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
5 mins
Total Time
1 d 15 mins
 

If you have ever had a Japanese Curry at a restaurant, you probably know about this condiment called Fukujinzuke. It’s made of daikon (white radish) and other vegetables and tastes like sweet soy sauce with a touch of sourness.

It is a great vegetarian dish.

Don't forget to see the section 'MEAL IDEAS' below the recipe card! It gives you a list of dishes that I have already posted and this recipe that can make up a complete meal. I hope it is of help to you.

Recipe Type: Pantry
Cuisine: Japanese
Keyword: condiment, fukujinzuke, japanese pickles, pickles
Author: Yumiko
Ingredients (tbsp=15ml, cup=250ml)
Vegetables (note 1)
  • 200g/7.1oz daikon (white radish)
  • 50g/1.8oz lotus root
  • 50g/1.8oz cucumber
  • 50g/1.8oz eggplant
  • 20g/0.7oz ginger , finely chopped
  • 1.5 tsp salt
  • 1 sheet konbu (dried kelp), 5cm x 5cm/2" x 2"
Marinade (note 2)
  • 100ml/3.4oz soy sauce
  • 100ml/3.4oz mirin
  • 40ml/1.4oz vinegar
  • 40g/1.4oz sugar
Instructions
  1. Cut daikon, lotus root, cucumber and eggplant into small rectangular shape of 1cm x 1.5cm/⅜” x ⅝", 1-2mm/1⁄16" thick.

  2. Place eggplant pieces in water to prevent them from browning due to oxidisation.
  3. Add all the vegetables and ginger to a large bowl and sprinkle salt over the vegetables. Using both hands, mix well so that the salt coats the vegetables evenly. Leave it for 15 minutes.
  4. Add water to the bowl of vegetables, then drain. Taking a handful of vegetables at a time, squeeze the water out as much as possible and put all the vegetables into the sauce pan.
  5. Add all the Marinade ingredients to the saucepan and bring to a boil.
  6. Turn the heat off and cool it down (it is OK to be slightly warm).

  7. Transfer the vegetables and the marinade to a zip lock bag. Put the konbu in the bag as well.

  8. Remove as much air as possible from the bag and seal the zip.
  9. Marinate in the fridge for 24 hours. Drain and serve as needed (note 3).

Recipe Notes

1. You can use other vegetables. The vegetables commonly used in Fukujinzuke are daikon, cucumber, eggplant, lotus root, sword beans, turnip and shiso (perilla). They all need to be cut to similar sizes.

2. The volume of the marinade is a bit more than required for the amount of vegetables in the ingredients. If you prefer, you could reduce the quantity by about 20%, or increase the amount of vegetables.

The left over marinade can be reused to marinate vegetables.

3. You can re-use the marinade to marinate other vegetables. Alternatively, dilute the marinade with water and use it as the base of clear soup.

4. Fukujinzuke keeps 1 week in the fridge. You can also freeze it for a couple of months. Place the remaining Fukujinzuke in a zip lock bag, remove the air as much as possible and freeze. Since you wouldn’t consume a large amount of Fukujinzuke at once, you may want to freeze it in small clusters.