• Before You Start…Please note that this recipe requires at least 1 day of pickling time. 

  Gather all the ingredients. Sterilize a jar or pour hot water and wipe the jar with high % alcohol (shochu or vodka).
  
• Peel 7 oz young ginger with a sharp knife (or the back of the knife) or a spoon. The skin is very thin, so you can easily remove the brown spots.
  
• Using the knife, thinly slice the ginger lengthwise into thin slabs. Stack several slabs and cut into julienned strips.
  
• Bring a medium pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the ginger strips and blanch for 2 to 3 minutes.
  
• Drain the ginger well in a fine-mesh sieve and let cool over a large flat surface (I used a bonzaru, Japanese bamboo sieve). Alternatively, wrap in a clean kitchen towel, and gently squeeze to remove excess liquid. The ginger cooking liquid can be enjoyed as ginger tea or shoga-yu (生姜湯).
  
• Once cool completely, add the ginger into small jars or one big jar/container.
  
• Add ¼ cup ume plum vinegar. Here, I show two variations: two dark red and two light red in color. To make lighter red, you only add a small amount of ume plum vinegar, almost no excess liquid in the jar.
  
• Mix well and close the lid. Store the jar in the refrigerator overnight and up to several days.
  

To Store

• You can keep the red pickled ginger in the refrigerator for up to a year. Always use a clean utensil to pick the ginger from the jar before serving.