663561 Fri Oct 30 11:42:00 -0700 2009 8 12 Boston Area 0 5143426 Hi, I have done a lot of pickling and want to try the Japanese style. There are 2 hard-to-find ingredients, nuka (rice bran) and koji (starter, based on rice) that are needed. Anyone know where to find these in the Boston area? I have tried H-Mart and Japan Village Mkt (Brookline) without success. Thanks, Guido Fri Oct 30 11:42:00 -0700 2009 14571 Guido 1 5144482 I'm pretty sure I did see nuka in the Brookline market when they were relatively new-- did you ask to see if maybe they were just out at the moment, or maybe they stopped carrying it? The reason I'm pretty sure I didn't hallucinate this is because it was in an unexpected (for me) location, on a shelf and not in the fridge section. Fri Oct 30 20:54:03 -0700 2009 5143426 49653 another_adam 2 5144915 Thanks for the suggestion, Adam. I called back and asked whether they ever had it - the 2 people there said they had never seen it. Perhaps they were new employees and weren't there when they did carry it... Sat Oct 31 08:14:14 -0700 2009 5144482 14571 Guido 3 5156049 I just saw two different brands of nuka there - 1lb size, maybe? - for around $2 or $3, which seemed surprisingly cheap in the context. (One was Well-pac, I forget the other.) Forgot to look and see if they have koji, too, though... Wed Nov 04 13:35:40 -0800 2009 5144915 49653 another_adam 4 5156659 That's great, Adam - thanks! I heard from another source that Reliable market in Inman Sq might carry it, so now I have a couple of leads for the weekend. Anyone interested can learn more at this blog that I found: http://pickles.wanderingspoon.com/?p=122 Wed Nov 04 16:55:57 -0800 2009 5156049 14571 Guido 4 5163793 Right you are, Adam. Went to JVM today and they had 3 bags (1 lb) of one brand and 1 bag of another brand. So I bought all 3 of the same brand. No koji, but I found that online. Reliable market did not have either. JVM also had nice pressed-rice triangles wrapped in nori (I got the spicy tuna flavor but there were half-dozen other flavors). Excellent packaging that kept the nori dry until you are ready to eat it. Made fresh daily in-store. A deal at $1.50; most other things seemed expensive to me. Sat Nov 07 14:22:33 -0800 2009 5156049 14571 Guido 5 5163986 Wow, three pounds of nuka is quite an ambitious pickling project!! My previous japanese grocery only sold it in 5lb or bigger, so I always went in together with friends on a bag to avoid having a freezer full of it :) Sat Nov 07 16:25:39 -0800 2009 5163793 49653 another_adam 1 5156837 I used to buy both at Kotobukiya. Perhaps their Medford spot could be a source. I've also used miso as the fermenting agent. Wed Nov 04 18:23:08 -0800 2009 5143426 102066 almansa 2 5156943 Kotobukiya had a "instant" (pre-started) nuka mix that was quite convenient, since you didn't have to get it going yourself. I haven't checked if they have something similar at the Brookline shop- maybe you could suggest it? There's a neat technique for easy miso-zuke in Seiko Ogawa's 'Easy Japanese Pickling in Five Minutes to One Day': take a piece of plastic wrap, spread some miso on it, put a paper towel over it, and then put your veggies. Put a paper towel, then more miso, and wrap it all up. I've done celery this way, but then I forgot all about the technique-- guess I should try it again soon! Wed Nov 04 19:06:50 -0800 2009 5156837 49653 another_adam