Tag: nuka

The Diva Cucumber: Green Goddess of the Vegetable Garden

My favorite fodder for the nuka pot, at the moment, is the ‘Diva’ hybrid cucumber. Sleek, smooth, seedless, thin-skinned, and absolutely never bitter, this creation of breeders at Johnny’s Select Seeds was a 2002 All-American winner. At the recommended harvest length of 5 inches, with an approximate diameter of 3/4 inch, this tasty cuke is perfect for a 1-gallon nuka pot. I bury two or three of them at a time, and take them out to eat the next day. See the nuka-pickled ‘Diva’ cucumbers here.

UPDATE 2022: Thankfully, ‘Diva’ is still available from numerous seed companies.

Pickling with Nuka (Rice Bran)

cucumber pickles in nuka pot
In the nuka pot are pickled ‘Diva’ cucumbers.

Remember Thomas Jefferson’s “fine spiced pickle, brought up troutlike from the sparkling depths of the aromatic jar below stairs in Aunt Sally’s cellar”? Here’s a pair of nuka pickles, brought up clamlike from the mucky depths of a fragrant jar of nukamiso.

In traditional Japanese homes, nuka–rice bran–is salted, mixed with water and either beer or soaked koji (Aspergillus-inoculated rice), flavored with ginger, chile, and kombu (kelp), and mixed into a pickling paste that can last for generations, if it’s well cared for.

Every day, you must reach your hands into the nuka pot to stir and turn the mixture, feeding it at first with vegetable scraps. When it has developed a strong, earthy aroma, you bury in the paste whatever vegetables you’d like to pickle. You take them out after a few hours or days, when they’re as salty and tangy as you like. Rinse them, slice them if you want, and eat.

These ain’t Aunt Sally’s pickles, Tom, but try them–they may grow on you.

Full instructions for pickling in a nuka pot are in The Joy of Pickling.