Fermented & preserved
Namagusa Kouko
Namagusa kouko — daikon pickled in a broth of simmered salted sardines
A pickle from the Kakudahama district of Niigata City, in which daikon is steeped in a broth made by simmering down salted sardines. Said to have grown from the wisdom of using local sardines without waste, it was reportedly eaten in every household at New Year.
- Origin: Niigata City, Niigata
- About 250 km north of Tokyo
What it's made of
Salted sardines are simmered slowly in a large pot until they break down into a thick liquid, and daikon is left pickling in that liquid for a long stretch of time, an unusual pickle unlike most others. The savor and salt of the sardines soak thoroughly into the daikon, and a faint scent of the sea rises with each bite. Its rich, fish-sauce-like depth sets it apart from ordinary pickles, a humble but deeply flavorful dish.
How it's made
Sardines, gutted and with gills removed, are packed in a generous amount of salt and left to turn into a thick, salted paste. This is warmed slowly in a large pot until it reaches a certain temperature and turns into a thin, smooth liquid. Daikon harvested in winter is then pickled in this liquid for about a month. Once ready, it's sliced thin and eaten as is, the standard way to enjoy it.
Why it took this shape
In the past, coastal areas caught huge quantities of sardines in early spring, and the wisdom of salting them to preserve every bit without waste is said to run deep here. Putting the salted fish liquid to use for pickling let people turn limited ingredients into a new kind of preserved food, and it became a valued side dish supporting the household through the winter farming lull, a flavor that survives only in this particular area.
Dishes in the same style
- Achara ZukeWhite melon, eggplant, and lotus root are pickled in a sweet vinegar spiked with red chili — the name is said to trace to the Portuguese 'achar', carried in through Hakata Bay's old trade, and an odd number of vegetables is used for Obon hospitality.
- AhodakiOld takuan pickle, once its flavor and aroma have faded, is desalted and simmered again in soy sauce, a pantry staple from the Hokusei area. Its name — playfully self-deprecating, roughly "doing a foolish thing" — nods to eating it well past its prime, a frugal way to waste nothing.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Also from Niigata
- AnboA Chuetsu-region dish of steamed rice-flour dumplings filled with sweet bean paste, pickled greens or eggplant. Similar in spirit to Nagano's oyaki but distinguished by its rice-flour skin, reflecting land suited to rice rather than wheat.
- Echigo misoA red, savory miso from Niigata, also called 'ukikoji miso' (floating-koji miso) because its polished whole-grain rice koji appears to float within the paste. Its style is said to vary across Niigata's Joetsu, Chuetsu, Kaetsu, and Sado districts, each shaped by local climate.
- Fugu no Ko no KasuzukeA rare Sado delicacy in which puffer fish ovaries are salt-cured for two years or more, then aged for a long stretch in Sado's sake lees. Only ovaries processed by licensed fugu chefs are sold, and the practice is said to date back to the Edo period.
- Fukashi NasuA Niigata dish of kinchaku eggplant halved, steamed, chilled and eaten with mustard or ginger soy sauce. In a prefecture among Japan's top eggplant producers, it is said to have been valued as a cooling dish through the summer.
- Hegi SobaA soba from Ojiya, Niigata, that uses funori seaweed, the same binder once used to size thread for the region's textiles, as a noodle binder. It is arranged in small bite-sized portions on a wooden box called a hegi.
- Hiyashijiru Miso JitateA chilled soup from the Chuetsu region, dashi thinned with miso and studded with chopped cucumber and shiso. Devised to stay appetizing through the summer heat, it is said to be eaten on its own or poured over rice or noodles.