Hida beni kabu (red turnip)

① Thoroughly clean fresh Hida Beni red turnips.

②In a barrel (one that holds about 30 L), make brine by adding the water and 200 g of table salt.

③Add the red turnips to the bottom of the brine-filled barrel with no gaps in between them, then sprinkle salt on top. Start another layer of red turnips on top of that salt, and sprinkle salt on top of that layer when finished. Keep adding the red turnips to the barrel in that pattern, sprinkling the additional 600 g of salt evenly between each layer.

Note: When adding the red turnips, put slightly more of them on the bottom layer.

Note: Increase the amount of salt you sprinkle between each layer as you move toward the top.

④Put a drop lid on top of the barrel with the table salt and red turnips inside, then add a 15 kg to 20 kg stone weight on top and let it pickle at room temperature. The dish will be complete after about two months of fermenting and ripening.

Note: If you rearrange the barrel contents from top to bottom about 15 days after starting the pickling process, you’ll get more uniform salt distribution and better coloring. When rearranging them from top to bottom, remove and dispose of the pickling liquid that has accumulated on top of the drop lid, move the red turnips to another barrel, put the drop lid and stone weight on top, and let them pickle.

Note: Diligently remove all white yeast that rises to the barrel water’s surface.

Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, “Our Local Cuisine”