Pickling the season in a jar — the work of preparing rakkyō scallions before Tết

Before Tết, pickled scallions fill Ho Chi Minh's markets

They are slightly smaller than the Japanese ones, and while some still have soil clinging to them, others are the processed kind, exposing their smooth, clean white skin. In Japan, rakkyo (pickled scallions) are a summer thing, something that sits beside your curry, but in Ho Chi Minh City they're a year-end ingredient. As for how they're eaten, it seems they're mostly used as pickles or as a side to the main meal. Just like in Japan. Sometimes you'll see pickled ones in containers lined up for sale in front of people's homes, so they're probably homemade. Elderly men and women are often the ones minding the stalls, and that too is a year-end scene. As for the taste—is it sweet, sour, or spicy…? I haven't bought any, so I don't know, and I'm still just gazing at them without really understanding the flavor. (Someday I'd like to properly buy some and give them a try.) Most likely, I think they're salt-pickled.

I've heard news that food hygiene standards in Japan are getting stricter, and that "Mr./Mrs. So-and-so's homemade pickles" might no longer be allowed to be sold?! Pickles taste so good when you eat them out in the countryside. Nozawana, red turnips, senmaizuke… It would be sad if the homemade pickles from the local aunties disappeared. Here in Vietnam, for now it's still fine. But hygiene standards are definitely getting stricter, so someday this kind of storefront selling might disappear too. Even so, selling from the front of one's home or online sales should stay alive and well for a while yet. 　　※In Japan in recent years, due to revisions to the Food Sanitation Act, a business license has become necessary even for manufacturing and selling pickles. 　　　From June 2024, the operation where sales are only allowed at facilities that have obtained health center approval has gone into full swing. 　　　Dedicated sanitary equipment and management systems are required, and it's said that the "homemade pickles" you used to see at roadside stations and farm stands are gradually decreasing. 　　　　【Reference: On the business license system for pickle manufacturing】 　　　　　Kakuichi, "What is the pickle manufacturing license system (operation from June 2024 onward)" So, since I found some rakkyo (Japanese scallions) at the market, I'm going to make some! This year, 1.5 kilograms. Peeling them takes a surprising amount of time, so honestly it would be nice to peel them while chatting away with friends, but well, everyone has their own schedule, so I peel away by myself with the radio playing. Taking it easy, lazily, whenever the mood strikes…

For the seasoning, I'm making a slightly sweet marinade using brown sugar (kibi sugar). But I also want it to be spicy, so I'm adding plenty of chili peppers and whole peppercorns. This should last me about three months.

●Brown marinade Speaking of pickles... my mother's nukadoko (fermented rice-bran bed). She'd say, "Go grab the vegetables out of the rice bran~," and I'd plunge my fingers into that chilly, squishy, cold and loose bran bed, and pull out cucumbers, eggplants, and daikon radish. I hear there are people making nukadoko here too, but in hot Ho Chi Minh City, with a cramped refrigerator, I figure it'd be too much trouble, so I don't get into it. After all, pickles are something you buy or receive here as well~. Salt-fermented pickled mustard greens, small eggplants pickled in salt and soy sauce, sweetish pickled daikon and carrots, and so on—all staples in my fridge. At home, I just make a little bit of lightly pickled vegetables, or pickle carrots and cucumbers in a somewhat tangy marinade. Rakkyo (pickled scallions) are a lot of work, but making them yourself is fun, and it's a joy when they turn out delicious.

A big task every six months where you psych yourself up and think "time to do this again~"!

After a hint of sweetness, a sharp bite chases right behind