Sources for nuka and koji? (Japanese pickling ing's)

[Guido]

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

[another_adam]

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.

[Guido]

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...

[another_adam]

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...

[Guido]

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

[Guido]

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.

[another_adam]

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 :)

[almansa]

I used to buy both at Kotobukiya. Perhaps their Medford spot could be a source. I've also used miso as the fermenting agent.

[another_adam]

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!