柴葉漬け(Shibazuke)

(Picture borrowed from http://www.akaoya.jp/)

Shibazuke is a traditional 漬物(Tsukemono) in Kyoto. It's made by pickling eggplant and red perilla with salt. It's one of the famous Tsukemono in Kyoto along with すぐき(Suguki) and 千枚漬け(Senmaizuke).

Although, it's a traditional Tsukemono in Kyoto, it's so popular in Japan, so you can find it easily in a supermarket in almost all over Japan.

It takes about 1 year until it's properly aged. However, nowadays people don't usually make Shibazuke in an original way. People put cucumber or myoga aside from eggplant, and pickle with vinegar. Originally, it was lactic acid fermentation from lactic acid bacteria, but now the popular way is to use vinegar.
Of course, you can still find Shibazuke made by traditional way, but it's hard to get one and much more expensive.


'