🍱 Yasai no Tsukemono (Vegetables Pickles)

There are a variety of pickled vegetables in Mie Prefecture. The "Hinona (radish) pickles" are pickled in the Suzuka foothills area, as well as in the central Nansei and Higashi-Kishu areas. It is said that about 300 years ago, Ujisato Gamo, who built Matsuzaka Castle, introduced "Matsuzaka akana" from Omi (present-day Shiga Prefecture), and there is a record of a national scholar born in Matsuzaka City, Norinaga Motoori, enjoying it as a "savory" food. It was once discontinued, but in 2001, seeds stored at the Prefectural Science and Technology Promotion Center were handed over to growers through JA (Japan Agricultural cooperatives), and production was revived. Ise takuan is made by pickling Misono daikon radish that grows in the fields of the sunny Central-Nansei area, and in the Iga area, "Teppo-zuke" is made by hollowing out a white gourd, stuffing it with chopped cucumber, perilla leaves and berries, ginger, and other ingredients, and marinating it in a miso broth. It is said to have started when Mr. Akita brought seeds of this plant when he was sent to his estate in Asakuma, Ise Province. Pickled takana is also used in "Mehari-zushi," which is made by rinsing pickled takana in water, lightly squeezing the leaves, spreading them out, and wrapping them in a bale-like shape with rice. There is a wide variety of pickles made from vegetables rooted in different regions, such as "kamizuke," a pickle of yatsugashira stems in the northern part of Higashi-Kishu, where the stems are pickled with salt and red shiso, the most effective way of surviving the summer heat.