Recipe & Video: Tsukemono-Curry Vinegar Pickles

1 minute

Besides the fact that these curry vinegar pickles go very well with alcohol, it's also a great snack. Also very easy to make!

Tsukemono: Curry Vinegar Pickles

Recipe by Chef Kaku (Wasan Brooklyn)

Course Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine Japanese

Ingredients

3 Celery Ribs
1 cup Rice Vinegar
1 cup Water
1 cup Mirin
3 Tbsp Soy Sauce (Preferably Koikuchi) *1
3 Tbsp Sugar
2” x 2” "Kombu (Dried Kelp)
2 Tbsp Curry Powder

Instructions

Cut off the base and leaves of the celery and remove fibrous strings. Wash and cut into desired size.
Drain celery and place in a plastic container.
In a small pot, heat all of the ingredients except for curry powder over medium heat and bring to boil. Turn off the heat.
Once not too hot, mix in curry powder.
Pour the sauce over celery and keep it in the fridge for three days.
Enjoy! (Pickles last for about 2-3 weeks in the fridge.)

Recipe Notes

*1 Learn the difference between "koikuchi (dark)" and "usukuchi (light)" soy sauces.

Sweet and delicious

Such a nice taste of sweet and tangy. My daughter enjoys it straight from the bag as a snack.

If Sriracha and yuzu koshou had a baby, this sauce is probably it. there's a faint, pleasant fermented note (not unlike kimchi), accented by strong citrus notes. The spiciness is mellow and there's a good bit of salt in there. Great for marination for grilled pork and stir fries. Also has great synergy with lighter Asian soup/noodle/stew dishes. We've decided to retire our shichimitogarashi after receiving this. Really good buy

It's clearly made with the same milling process as regular matcha and so behaves the same way. Unless you're a matcha connoisseur, you probably can't tell this isn't matcha, especially if it's in a matcha latte. It's got the same color and same grassy notes. It does lack the bitterness and unami flavors of matcha. I'd say it's a totally acceptable replacement.

We love ponzu but due to soy allergy in our child, we've had to give that up. We were skeptical of this at first but we're sold. Collectively we like it more than regular ponzu. It's been great with pork shabu as a dipping sauce, works wonderfully as a salad dressing, and also great for a light broth for somen or chazuke. Super versatile and really lovely and refreshing.

Flavor 4.8/5
It smells exactly like soy sauce, but is less salty, hence docking off the 0.2 points. It has the same flavors and umami but a deeper aftertaste.

Coconut aminos may work for stir fries, but if you're east asian and make braised dishes, you genuinely need real soy sauce. We've had to avoid soy due to milk and soy protein allergies in our child, and this has worked for all our dishes (sukiyaki don, braised pork rice, beef noodles etc.)

Our only gripe is that they don't sell it in a bigger bottle, and since it's less salty than regular soy sauce, you need to use more per dish.