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Vegetables from Fukube

Rakkyo-zuke (Tottori, honzuke method)らっきょう漬け

Rakkyo bulbs are salted heavily for about two weeks, which sets off a lactic fermentation, then soaked to draw out most of the salt and sealed in sweet vinegar. The quicker kantan-zuke skips the salting and fermentation and has to be kept in the fridge.

Fully documentedVegetables10 days – 14 days

Recipe

Amounts from a source4 kg of rakkyo, the Tottori Prefecture recipe on MAFF's regional cuisine site.
Rakkyo bulbs4 kg[maff-rakkyo-tottori]
Salt1.2 kg[maff-rakkyo-tottori]
Rakkyo vinegar (ready-mixed sweet vinegar)1.8 L[maff-rakkyo-tottori]
Rock sugar1 kg[maff-rakkyo-tottori]
Red chillies, seededAbout 8 small[maff-rakkyo-tottori]

Total time across the recorded steps: 10 days – 14 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: freshly dug rakkyo bulbs, washed

Step 1 of 5
Wash the bulbs
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
L. plantarum

Output: washed rakkyo bulbs.

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

Rakkyo bulbs are salted heavily for about two weeks, which sets off a lactic fermentation, then soaked to draw out most of the salt and sealed in sweet vinegar. The quicker kantan-zuke skips the salting and fermentation and has to be kept in the fridge. Made in 5 steps over 10 days – 14 days. The longest step, salt and ferment (honzuke), takes 10–14 days (MAFF うちの郷土料理 (Our Regional Cuisines) 2026). Salt is 30 % (MAFF うちの郷土料理 (Our Regional Cuisines) 2026). In a commercial fermented rakkyo pickle from Momoya Co., not this recipe, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum N14 was added as the starter culture does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step10–14 daysReported[maff-rakkyo-tottori]Salt and ferment (honzuke)
Salt30 %Reported[maff-rakkyo-tottori]Salt and ferment (honzuke)

What makes this one different

The honzuke method ferments the bulbs in heavy salt before they are desalted and put into vinegar. The quick kantan-zuke goes straight into vinegar with no fermentation.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Kantan-zuke (quick)No salting or fermentation; straight into vinegar on the day; must be refrigerated.
  • Local finishesSalt only, red wine, shiso, apple vinegar, brown sugar or black vinegar instead of sweet vinegar.
  • Ibaraki sweet-vinegar rakkyoSalted with water for about 10 days, then put in boiled and cooled vinegar and sugar.

Safety

Kantan-zuke, which is not salted or fermented, has to be kept in the fridge.

History and sources

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

Rakkyo is said to have come to Tottori in the Edo period. Large-scale growing began after an industrial cooperative (sangyō kumiai) was set up in the early Taishō era and sprinkler irrigation came in, and salting and seasoning began around 1965, when farm cooperatives took up processing to steady prices. Tottori sand-dune rakkyo was registered as a Japanese GI in 2016.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [maff-rakkyo-tottori] MAFF うちの郷土料理 (Our Regional Cuisines), らっきょう漬け (Tottori), recipe from Tottori Prefecture, read 2026-10gov
  2. [maff-rakkyo-ibaraki] MAFF にっぽん伝統食図鑑 (Japanese Traditional Foods), らっきょう漬け (Ibaraki), read 2026-10gov
  3. [islam2021] Islam M.A., Hashiguchi K., Kober A.K.M.H., Morie K. et al. 2021, Effect of Dietary Supplementation of Immunobiotic Lactiplantibacillus plantarum N14 Fermented Rakkyo (Allium chinense) Pickled Juice on the Immunocompetence and Production Performance of Pigs, Animals 11(3):752paper
  4. [maff-gi] MAFF, GI (geographical indication) register list, no. 11 鳥取砂丘らっきょう, registered 10 March 2016, read 2026-10gov