Homebound During Pandemic

/ / Food & Flavor

Who is enjoying the pandemic pastime of creating global flavors in the home kitchen? Hannah Beech, the Southeast Asian bureau chief for the New York Times, details her first time making nukazuke, a Japanese preserve made by fermenting vegetables with rice bran. The recipe was passed down by her grandmother, who made nukazuke.

“The fermenting bed was my grandmother’s equivalent of a sourdough starter, a lesson in resourcefulness from a war widow who turned humble ingredients into something delicious,” Beech shares. “To me, the sour-salty punch of a good nukazuke is a taste of home, even if I never actually lived in Japan, except for childhood summers at my grandmother’s cedar-scented house, chasing fireflies, watching fireworks and learning from her in the kitchen. Her pantry was filled with umeboshi, wrinkled pickled plums; vinegared young ginger; and a brandy perfumed with loquats that I would steal sips of when she wasn’t looking. …If we cannot physically travel, at least my family can do so with each meal, and we are lucky to be able to explore continents at the table.”

Read more (New York Times)