Fermented & preserved ── Tsukemono (pickles)
Rakkyou-zuke
Rakkyo-zuke — sweet-vinegared shallots grown in the sand dunes of Tottori
Shallots salted first, then steeped in sweet vinegar — a specialty of the sand dunes around Tottori. Hardy enough to grow in dune sand, the shallot is said to have arrived there when a feudal retainer brought it back from a trip to Edo.
- Origin: Tottori Tottori (Fukube)
- About 490 km west of Tokyo
What it's made of
Rakkyo shallots are said to grow vigorously enough to thrive even in dune sand. Salting brings on lactic fermentation and a distinctive flavor. Sweet vinegar is the most common finish, though salting, red wine, shiso, apple vinegar, and brown sugar pickling are all used locally too.
How it's made
The full method salts washed shallots for at least two weeks, then desalts and pickles them, giving the flavor of lactic fermentation but requiring a careful hand with the desalting step. A simplified method skips desalting entirely and, kept refrigerated, can be started on a whim any day. Harvest runs late May to mid-June, and the processed shallot is sold year-round.
Why it took this shape
Cultivation in Tottori is said to trace to the Edo period, when a retainer brought shallots back from Koishikawa medicinal garden during an obligatory trip to Edo. Its hardiness let it be grown as a home crop even in dune sand, but large-scale production is said to have begun only after sprinkler irrigation arrived in the early Taisho era. In fiscal 2015, "Tottori Sakyu / Fukube Sakyu Rakkyo" was registered under Japan's GI system.
Before you go
- How to shop at a supermarketHow to choose prepared foods, sashimi, and packaged sushi, when discount stickers tend to appear, region-only specialties, buying by weight, the checkout and bagging flow, and sampling etiquette at a local supermarket.
- How to shop in a depachika (department store food hall)A guide to browsing prepared foods and bento, choosing wagashi as a gift with a good shelf life, sampling etiquette, end-of-day discounts, asking for cold packs and wrapping, and finding your way around a depachika floor.
- Enjoying a bussanten (regional products fair)A guide to what's sold at a bussanten (regional products fair), how to find one, when it gets crowded, shelf life and taking food home, and how to fit one around a trip.
Dishes in the same style
- Bettara-zukeDaikon salted first, then pickled sweet in rice malt and sugar — said to descend from a lightly pickled daikon once sold at Edo's ebisu-kō market. The rice malt gives it a natural sweetness, and it still headlines Nihonbashi's autumn "Bettara Market."
- Fukujin-zukeSeven kinds of vegetables — daikon, eggplant, lotus root among them — diced and steeped in a soy-based marinade. Said to have originated in Tokyo, it's best known today as curry rice's standard side.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Also from Tottori
- Ago ChikuwaChikuwa made from the surimi of flying fish, called "ago" in Tottori. A knife through the firm grilled skin sends up a fragrant crackle, and it turns out darker than ordinary chikuwa. It's a taste of early summer, in season through the fish's spawning run from spring into summer.
- Akagarei no KomaburiRoe-bearing red flounder is sliced into sashimi and tossed with its own boiled, crumbled eggs, a dish from around the Amijiro area of Iwami Town. Said to have descended from a similar dish made with crucian carp roe, it pairs rich eggs with mild, fatty winter flounder for festivals and New Year's.
- Azuki ZouniSoft round rice cakes are added to a broth of simmered red beans, the mainstream style of New Year's zoni in Tottori. Red beans have long been thought to ward off misfortune, and the dish is said to be simmered on New Year's morning with the year's first water and a purified flame, then shared among family.
- Daisen-doriA branded chicken said to be raised end-to-end, from breeding stock to processing, by producers at the foot of Mount Daisen — free-ranged longer than usual on an antibiotic-free feed aimed at balancing fat and flavor.
- Daisen OkowaShiitake, burdock, and chicken are cooked into sticky rice seasoned with soy, a dish from the foot of Mount Daisen. Said to trace back to warrior monks preparing it before battle to pray for victory, it was later served at the horse-and-cattle market by Daisen-ji temple and carried on into festivals and hospitality since.
- Daisen RubyBred at Tottori Prefecture's livestock station by crossing a sow of the oleic-acid-rich Daisen Akabuta line with a Berkshire boar, said to inherit both breeds' fat quality and tenderness.