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Vegetables from Southern Akita, Japan

Nasu no koji-zuke (Akita eggplant koji pickle)なすのこうじ漬け

Whole eggplants picked in the morning are dusted with alum and dried in the shade, then layered in a big tub with steamed rice, plenty of rice koji, salt, coarse sugar and shochu. After about a month under a weight they are koji pickles, made in autumn to eat through the winter.

DocumentedVegetables31 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceAn easy-to-make batch for festive meals, from the book あきた郷味風土記 (Akita Rural Life Research Group Council) on MAFF's regional cuisine site.
Eggplants6 kg (70–80 g each)[maff-nasukoji]
Second-grade rice (nibanmai)1.5 kgWashed, soaked about 1 hour, drained well and steamed[maff-nasukoji]
Rice koji1.5 kg[maff-nasukoji]
Salt900 gThe amount the recipe gives for keeping the pickle in the fridge[maff-nasukoji]
Zarame (coarse sugar)1–1.5 kg[maff-nasukoji]
Shochu200 cc[maff-nasukoji]
AlumA little[maff-nasukoji]
Red chillies, sliced into rings7–8[maff-nasukoji]
Bamboo-grass (sasa) leavesAs needed[maff-nasukoji]
Starterkoji (rice koji)

Total time across the recorded steps: 31 days

Start
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What changes: Alum-dusted eggplants dry in the shade until their skins are dry on both sides

Step 1 of 3
Dust with alum and dry in the shade
Time
3–12 h
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Morning-picked eggplants are dusted with alum and spread on newspaper. Excess alum is then rinsed off in a colander, which leaves the skins soft.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Whole eggplants picked in the morning are dusted with alum and dried in the shade, then layered in a big tub with steamed rice, plenty of rice koji, salt, coarse sugar and shochu. After about a month under a weight they are koji pickles, made in autumn to eat through the winter. Made in 3 steps over 31 days. The longest step, layer with the eggplants in a lined tub and weight down, takes 30 days (MAFF うちの郷土料理 (Our Regional Cuisines) 2026). Salt is 15 % (MAFF うちの郷土料理 (Our Regional Cuisines) 2026).

Key numbers
Main step30 daysReported[maff-nasukoji]Layer with the eggplants in a lined tub and weight down
Salt15 %Reported[maff-nasukoji]Layer with the eggplants in a lined tub and weight down

What makes this one different

Unlike nasu no hanazushi, which uses sweetened glutinous rice and chrysanthemum and is now usually eaten within days, this pickle uses steamed rice and a lot of koji and is kept for the winter.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Fukashi-zuke (Tarumi-nai, Yokote)The Akita prefecture survey (2024) records eggplants dried, mixed with steamed rice and seasonings, and pickled for 1 month.
  • Komagata, YuzawaThe same survey says eggplants were once pickled in koji rice there; it is now made there with vinegar, sugar and sake, without koji rice.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Made in each household from the July–October eggplant harvest, using the second-grade rice left from the new crop, as one of the jobs of getting ready for winter. A women's group in Daisen has sold a modern version, fukashi nasu, since about 1992.

  1. [maff-nasukoji] MAFF うちの郷土料理 (Our Regional Cuisines), なすのこうじ漬け (Akita), recipe from あきた郷味風土記 (秋田県農山漁村生活研究グループ協議会), read 2026-10gov
  2. [akita-kyodoshoku] 秋田県教育委員会 (Akita Prefectural Board of Education), 秋田県の郷土食 (Akita's regional foods), 秋田県文化財調査報告書第540集, March 2024, 郷土食等一覧表 (survey table)gov