Suguki

Suguki Is Both a Vegetable and a Pickle

Suguki is a kind of turnip counted among the traditional Kyoto vegetables, known for its distinctive sourness. It is rarely eaten except as a pickle, and sugukizuke—suguki pickled with salt alone—is counted among Kyoto's three great pickles, together with senmaizuke and shibazuke. Also written 酸茎, it is a turnip that for a long time was grown only in Kamigamo.

Kyoto Prefecture defines "traditional Kyoto vegetables" (Kyō no dentō yasai) by criteria such as having been introduced and grown before the Meiji era, and the definition covers the whole prefecture, not just Kyoto City. Kyoto Prefecture has also designated suguki, together with senmaizuke and shibazuke, as Kyō-tsukemono (Kyoto pickles) among its "Kyoto traditional foods" (Kyō-mono dentō shokuhin).

A Pickle Guarded by Kamigamo's Shrine Families

There are several theories about how suguki began. One is that in the Azuchi-Momoyama period the shake (families who served Kamigamo Shrine) began cultivating plants that grew wild along the Kamo River; another is that the seeds were received from the Imperial Palace in Kyoto.

Sugukizuke, pickled with salt alone, is said to have begun in the early Edo period. At first only the shrine families made it, and it was a luxury pickle presented to the Imperial Palace. In the late Edo period farmers around Kamigamo Shrine also began to make it, but because taking suguki out to other villages was forbidden, production stayed limited. It is said to have spread after the Meiji Restoration and come to be sold widely in the city.

It is also said that because the shrine families used sugukizuke as gifts to the imperial court and elsewhere and kept the method a closely guarded secret, the area under cultivation was effectively kept from expanding.

Lactic Acid Fermentation With Salt and a Muro

Suguki's sourness comes from lactic acid fermentation. Sugukizuke is made in three main stages: preliminary pickling, main pickling, and muro-ire (placing it in the muro). The muro is a heated room kept at about 40°C with charcoal, electricity, or other means, and promoting lactic acid fermentation in the muro is the usual method today. With this method the pickle is ready to eat in about half a month.

In the past, instead of using a muro, the pickles were left to ferment at natural temperatures, a method called jikō-nare ("ripened by the season"). In that case they were ready in spring or summer, so in the Edo period suguki is said to have been enjoyed as a summer delicacy. There was a time, then, when it was not the winter pickle we think of today.

When and How Is It Eaten?

As frost begins to fall, the sugar content of the suguki root rises, so it is harvested and pickled from mid-November to around January. It is also popular as a year-end and New Year gift and is, along with senmaizuke, one of the representative pickles of winter.

When serving it, the leaves and the root are usually cut separately. The leaves are finely chopped or cut into easy-to-eat lengths, and the root is often cut into half-moons or quarter-rounds. Besides going with rice, it is also eaten in ochazuke (rice with tea poured over it) and as a snack with sake. Because muro-ire requires special facilities, suguki is rarely made at home, and in winter suguki from pickle makers appears in the shops.

How It Differs From Senmaizuke and Shibazuke

Kyoto's three great pickles each differ in ingredients and methods. Suguki and shibazuke are fermented with lactic acid, while senmaizuke is pickled with kombu and vinegar, so it does not keep long and has a delicate flavor. As for season, suguki and senmaizuke are considered winter pickles, while shibazuke brightens the summer table.

If You Walk Around Kamigamo

Kamigamo in Kita Ward has long been known as the home of suguki. Beside Mizorogaike Pond, also in Kamigamo, stands Mizorogaike Kifune Shrine, and within its grounds is Akiba Shrine, said to be the birthplace of suguki, famous as a Kyoto pickle.

Mizorogaike Kifune Shrine was established by the farmers of Mizorogaike as a branch shrine because visiting Kifune Shrine in Kurama was far and difficult. How to read the name Mizorogaike and how to walk around the pond are also covered in this dictionary's entry on Mizorogaike.