Did you know that you can pickle fresh seasonal vegetables with miso? Known as Misozuke, these Japanese tsukemono pickles are among the easiest to make at home. The result is unmistakable umami that‘s so good with plain steamed rice!
Misozuke (味噌漬け), literally Japanese soybean paste (miso) pickling (zuke), is one of the easiest Japanese pickles known collectively as tsukemono (漬物). Miso pickles can easily be made at home with miso paste and it preserves the ingredients for a long time.
This topic is part of the tsukemono series that I’m introducing on Just One Cookbook. For a detailed introduction, please read Tsukemono: A Guide to Japanese Pickles.
Tsukemono has several types based on the pickling agent:
- Shiozuke (塩漬け) – salt
- Suzuke (酢漬け) – vinegar
- Amazuzuke (甘酢漬け) – sugar and vinegar
- Misozuke (味噌漬け) – miso
- Shoyuzuke (醤油漬け) – soy sauce
- Kasuzuke (粕漬け) – sake kasu (lees)
- Shiokojizuke (塩麹) – rice koji/mold-cultured rice
- Nukazuke (糠漬け) – nuka (rice bran)
- Karashizuke (からし漬け) – Japanese hot mustard karashi
- Satozuke (砂糖漬け) – sugar
I will be covering each one of them at a different time, but today we’ll focus on Misozuke. In this recipe, we will pickle two types of vegetables: radishes and carrots.
What is Misozuke?
Misozuke (味噌漬け) is to pickle ingredients in a miso or miso-based mixture, or it also refers the miso-pickled food. The common ingredients for misozuke include:
- Vegetables (cucumber, carrot, burdock root, daikon, eggplant, celery, etc)
- Meat
- Fish or seafood
- Tofu
- Cheese
- Egg yolk
After pickling, the vegetables are eaten as they are (raw) while meat and fish are baked/cooked.
How to Pickle in Miso
The pickling “marinade” is called Misodoko (味噌床) and the mixture is made of just miso, or the combination of miso and sake, mirin, or sugar (in this recipe I used just miso and mirin). It’s very easy to make Misodoko: all you need is to mix all the ingredients together. You can also include the following flavor-boosters if you like:
- Kombu(dried kelp)
- Red chili pepper
- Garlic
- Ginger (grated)
After you put your ingredients in the misodoko, refrigerate. If you don’t plan to eat misozuke with meat or fish in the same week, you can also freeze it, but recommended to cook it soon.
For any ingredients with lots of moisture, excess moisture should be extracted prior to pickling to prevent mold growth, especially if you plan to marinade for a longer time.
- For fish, it is best to sprinkle salt and draw out excess moisture.
- Vegetables with higher water content such as daikon radish and cucumber should be sun-dried (one day), dried under shade (one day), or salted (either sprinkling salt or soak in salt water – 5% to 20% salt.).
Best Pickle Time for Misozuke
In general, the recommended pickling time varies from 2-3 hours to half day to 2-3 days. Why such a big range? The “perfect” timing for each misozuke varies depending on 1) salt content in the miso you’re using, 2) the type of ingredient you pickle, and 3) how you eat it.
- Salt Content: White miso has less salt, so you may need to pickle for a longer time than red miso, which has a higher % of salt.
- Ingredient: Thin and softer vegetables can pickle really fast as opposed to thick and tough vegetables. If you cut the vegetable into smaller pieces, pickling is faster.
- Eat With Rice: Japanese often prefers to eat something salty when eating plain steamed rice. It’s entirely up to you how ‘salty’ you want your misozuke to be.
Considering the above factors, I recommend tasting your misozuke to decide on the pickling time.
Helpful Tips for Making Misodoko
1. Separate the misodoko
Make sure to separate the pickling mixture/ marinade for vegetables (eat them raw) and meat/fish (need to cook). Or you can use new/newer misodoko for vegetables, and when it’s about to expire, use it for marinating meat and fish.
2. Use a glass container or resealable plastic bag
A glass container works great if you plan to use the misodoko for a long time. It is easy to put in or take out the ingredients and to transfer the misodoko out of the container if you need to cook off the moisture (see next). It also keeps the shape of fragile ingredient (such as a thin fillet of fish) intact.
A resealable plastic bag is good for a small amount of misozuke. Use just enough amount of misodoko to coat your ingredient and rub it against each other from outside the bag.
3. You can re-use misodoko for up to 1 month
The great thing about misodoko is that you can re-use it for up to a month! When the misodoko becomes watery from moisture released from the ingredients, all you need to do is to reheat in the pot over the stove and let the moisture evaporate. Let the misodoko cool before you use it to make Misozuke again.
4. Don’t throw away retired misodoko
When you’re done pickling with misodoko, you can use the marinade for seasoning your stir fry dishes or as a sauce for your dish for one last time. You just need to make sure to cook the sauce.
5. Remove excess misodoko (important!)
When you finish pickling meat/fish, make sure to remove any excess misodoko from the meat/fish before cooking. Miso will burn easily and you do not want your dish to be charred.
What Type of Miso to Use
Although it might be common to use the bold-flavored of red miso for misozuke, any type of miso can be used. Even red miso varies in flavors and some regions use white miso for misozuke. If you are new to misozuke, use the miso you have in your fridge to start. It’s the perfect way to use up the leftover miso in the tub, too. You can read all about miso to be familiar with different types of miso.
For this recipe, I used my favorite miso, Kodawattemasu by Hikari Miso®, that I’ve been using for over a decade in my kitchen. Thank you Hikari Miso® for sponsoring this post!
This slow-aged red koji miso is actually the #1 selling miso from Hikari Miso®. It is free of additives and preservatives, is made of organic soybeans and rice, and has a rich and mature flavor with the full-bodied umami of soybeans and the sweetness of the rice.
Where you can buy Kodawattemasu by Hikari Miso®:
- Japanese grocery stores (Nijiya, Mitsuwa, Marukai, local mom-pop shops, etc)
- Asian grocery stores (including Chinese/Korean grocery stores)
- Tokyo Central Online ($7.48)
On a side note, “Kodawattemasu” (こだわってます) in Japanese means “I’m particular (about the quality of miso and the miso-making process).” It may be hard to memorize, so just remember the green label with No.1 on the package!
How to Enjoy These Miso-Pickled Vegetables
The beauty of misozuke is you could simply enjoy the pickled foods with steamed rice. The miso pickled radishes and carrots are perfect for anyone who follows a vegetarian or vegan diet. You’ll love it with this Vegan Miso Soup. Otherwise, you can serve it alongside with another protein dish such as Saba Shioyaki (Grilled Mackerel) or Seared Scallops.
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Tsukemono – Misozuke (Miso Pickling)
Ingredients
For the Misodoko Pickling "Marinade" (make one batch per ingredient)
For the Add-in Options
- 1 piece kombu (dried kelp) (4 inches, 10 cm per piece)
- 8 cloves garlic
- 1 red chili peppers
- ¼ tsp ginger (grated, with juice; from a 1-inch, 2.5-cm knob)
For the Ingredients to Pickle (read the blog post for more suggestions)
- 2 carrots (6 oz, 170 g)
- 5 red radishes (8.8 oz, 250 g)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
To Make the Misodoko (Pickling "Marinade")
- We make one batch of misodoko for each ingredient. For radish misozuke, we make a plain misodoko. In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup miso, 2 Tbsp mirin, and sugar (optional). Mix well.
- For carrot misozuke, I add kombu and garlic cloves for additional flavor. Cut 1 piece kombu (dried kelp) into thin strips and mix it together with the misodoko. Other optional add-ins include 1 red chili peppers and ¼ tsp ginger (grated).
- Transfer each misodoko into a resealable bag or glass container with a lid.
To Prepare the Vegetables
- Rinse 5 red radishes well under water. Peel 2 carrots and cut them in half lengthwise.
To Pickle the Vegetables
- For the radish misozuke, add the radishes to the plain misodoko in the resealable bag. Remove the air and seal the bag. Rub the radishes with the misodoko through the bag.
- For the carrot misozuke, add the carrots and 8 cloves garlic (peeled) to the bag with the kombu strips in it. Remove the air and seal the bag. Rub the carrots with the misodoko from outside the bag.
- Store in the refrigerator. Depending on the ingredients, the misozuke is ready in 2–3 hours to 2–3 days.
To Serve
- Remove the radishes from the misodoko, wiping off any excess miso. Cut the radishes in half and serve.
- Remove the carrots from the misodoko, wiping off any excess miso. Cut them into smaller pieces and serve.
To Reuse the Misodoko
- When you find your misodoko has some liquid in it, transfer it to a saucepan. Cook it on a low heat and let the liquid evaporate. You can reuse misodoko for up to a month. Please read the blog post for more details.
I’m so happy I found your site. I live in Tokyo and have been mostly working from home. The time I used to spend putting on makeup and travelling on the train I can now use for cooking. I’ve been trying to cook Japanese food and adding miso to many dishes for added health benefits. I decided to try making tsukemono. I have a large green eggplant which I want to pickle. Is there any step I need to add or reduce from the steps you outlined above?
Hi JD! I think that’s really wonderful. One of the things I disliked about living in Japan is the commute (especially standing…). It’s so wonderful that you can now use that time to cook! Very productive and meaningful! Nothing special required for green eggplant. Hope you enjoy!
Sitting in a small izakaya watching a Giants game with Tebasaki, teba shio, an order of pickles and a large mug of Kirin Draft. That means baseball season. I was actually a Tigers fan, but master would throw you out if you made any disparaging comments about the Giants.
Hi, I was wondering how long the pickled vegetables would last? I’ve seen websites that say only 1-2 days, and others that say up to 30 days for a misozuke.
And how would you store them once removing them from the misodoko? Or do you leave them in the misodoko for storage??
Thanks so much for the brilliant website!
Hi Kathie! It depends on how you prep veggies. The pickles that last a long time usually require more prepping – put in the solution with higher salt content overnight, drying the vegetables outside, etc to remove moisture in the vegetables. If you don’t, the water in the vegetables will slowly release to the misodoko and it can go bad. Once the pickles are done, I take it out and store it in an airtight container, because if you leave it, it will continue to be pickled. Thank you for your kind words on my site, Kathie!. 🙂
Do you think your recipe for all purpose miso sauce would work for pickling as well? The recipe is similar and should have enough of a salt/sugar content to work maybe?
Hi Ryan! For quick pickling, sure! 🙂
Hey, how to make kabocha misozuke? Raw or cooked?
Thank you
Hi Martin! Raw sliced kabocha is used. 🙂
Hello Nami,
I live in San Francisco and wonder if you give private cooking lessons. I want to learn the art of tsukemono. Your recipes here have been very helpful, but I’d like some personal instruction. Thanks for considering my request.
Hi Mark! Thank you so much for your interest in taking my cooking class. Unfortunately, I don’t do a cooking class because I’m really busy keeping up with this blog and youtube and creating contents… I wish I have more free time, but I’m very busy with blogging at this time. Thank you again. It means a lot to me that you’re interested… 🙂
Hello! I forgot about my carrots in misodoko and left them pickling in the fridge for 6 days. Is it still safe to eat if i clean off the excess misodoko? I do not see any mold but the kombu got a little slimy and the miso got a little stringy. No water though. Thank you!
Hi Rae! It seems okay to me, and kombu does get slimy when it’s wet. It might be a bit salty though. Please re-heat (and let cool) the misodoko before you pickle next batch. 🙂
[…] Misozuke (味噌漬け) – miso […]
Hi Nami!
You post says it’s better to extract moisture from vegetables such as cucumber and carrots by salting them but the recipe seems to use the carrots and radishes without salting them. Can I do cucumbers without salting them? I feel if you salt cucumbers, and then pickle them in misodoko, it would be too salty?
Hi MH! I’ve updated the content and hopefully, it’s a bit less confusing. The thing is… there are many ways and some people do shiozuke first and some don’t. As I don’t try to keep my pickles for months, I did not do shiozuke for this recipe. We make salt pickle (higher %) first if you plan to keep it for a longer time.
If you plan to use cucumbers, I recommend either sprinkling salt (5%) or soak in salt water to extract water from cucumbers. Then rinse the cucumbers quickly (if you use higher salt % then using lower % salt water can remove salt better than water – it’s science) and dry it before adding to misodoko.
Without salting, the water will be released to misodoko. If you plan to make a qiuck pickling, then I think you can go straight to misodoko. And to reuse misodoko, cook the miso to let the moisture evaporate. Since pickling is to preserve the vegetables, not to season, the higher salt content is used. Back then it was even higher % to preserve. Without it, food will go waste. However, we don’t plan to keep for that long time, so you can reduce the amount of salt. Sorry if I didn’t explain well…
Thank you thank you thank you for this upcoming series of recipes! My mother was the only person in her group of Japanese ladies to make Japanese pickles and we, her children, loved them. She didn’t pass down her recipes to us and it took me a few years to realize that if I not seek out these recipes, we would never eat them again. I look so forward to your pickle posts. My mother made one in particular that we called her ‘winter pickle’. It was only made in the fall/winter- sun dried daikon, carrots, cabbage, dried fish-our absolute favorite but I haven’t been able figure out what pickling medium she used. She also made an eggplant pickle that tasted of sake. I hope your posts will help me find out!!
Hi Stsabin! Hopefully, I can go into deep with tsukemono series. I’m trying to start from easy and simple recipes. I just finished making sake lees (sakazuke) and will post this month. I’m glad you want to learn about Tsukemono. There are so many pickle specialty stores in Japan that most people don’t make homemade tsukemono anymore (plus no space to store big tubs in tiny houses, unless you live outside of the cities).
[…] Misozuke (味噌漬け) – miso […]
[…] Misozuke (味噌漬け) – miso […]
Qual o tempo que as conservas podem ficar guardadas na geladeira? Somente alguns dias???
Hi Laerte! It really depends, maybe 2-3 hour for some vegetables, or a half day for some vegetables. Taste and see when it’s done. 🙂
Does packaged miso kept in a refrigerator expire? I have some unopened for years and I am not sure if it is still safe to use.
Hi Victor! Miso’s expiration is typically one year. However, it could last for a long time especially if you keep well in the fridge (less temperature change). I often see a recommendation on checking the condition of the miso to see if there is any mold growing etc. Even though it’s unopened, it often has air ventilation for higher end miso. And if your miso has dashi in it, it usually won’t be kept well for that long. But if you’re not too sure, I recommend getting a new one. 🙂
Hello, at the beginning of the article it lists sake as an ingredient of the Misodoku, but sake isn’t in the recipe. Is it used or not ?
Thank-you
Hi Jodie! I’m sorry about the confusion. I think my English wasn’t clear in the blog post, so I have updated it. Basically, misodoko can be just miso OR miso with sake, mirin, and sugar (all 3, or two of three, or just one of three). For this recipe, I use miso and mirin. 🙂