Beni Shoga -- Japanese Red Pickled Ginger

Total Time: 336 hrs 15 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 336 hrs

Ingredients

• 1 lb fresh gingerroot
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 3/4 cup umeboshi brine (umeboshi is pickled plums, for this recipe we need the juice from bottle)
• 5 -7 fresh japanese basil leaves (shiso or red perilla)

Recipe

• 1 wash and peel ginger.
• 2 cut into small, uniform matchsticks by slicing into rounds first, then stacking the rounds and slicing across.
• 3 place into a strainer and sprinkle with sea salt.
• 4 let this sit and drain for about 30 minutes.
• 5 squeeze out liquid and pat dry with a paper towel.
• 6 stack the shiso leaves on top of each other, roll into a cigar-like cylinder and slice thinly
• 7 place the ginger slivers into a clean, glass jar, layering with the sliced shiso leaves.
• 8 pour in the ume brine.
• 9 cover with a lid and store in the refrigerator.
• 10 let the ginger pickle for about a few weeks.
• 11 enjoy beni shoga on top of okonomiyaki, takoyaki, yaki soba, gyudon, curry rice or anything else that might please the palate.