🍚 Chapter 2 — Summer Vegetables in Mochigome Tsukedoko

Chilled and glossy: a summer joy made with sweet rice.

Each summer, I return to the quiet ritual my mother taught me—pickling vegetables in a bed of cooked glutinous rice.

🍆 First, the classic: eggplants.

My mother grows a small variety called Binan, which charmingly means “handsome man.”
She insists it’s the best. (Though store-bought eggplants work just fine too!)

I gently wash the Binan-kun and give them a light dusting of alum powder to preserve their color.
Then I place them in a container and cover them with the sweet rice bed.

👉 For the recipe, see the original post:🍚 Chapter 1: Mochigome Tsukedoko — A Sweet Rice Bed for Summer Pickles

As the eggplants begin to float, I press cling film tightly over them and add a light weight.
A plate over aluminum foil works well.
You might worry they’ll sink too deep, but once refrigerated, the rice bed firms up nicely and holds everything in place.

Seal the container and store it in the fridge.
By the next day, you’ll have glossy, jewel-like eggplants ready to enjoy 🍆✨

🥕 Gather the Tiny Garden Treasures

Homegrown vegetables come in all shapes and sizes.
The small ones? Toss them right into the rice bed.
Larger ones? Slice them first so the flavors soak in better.

This time, I sliced zucchini into 5mm rounds.
Cucumbers and carrots were small enough to go in whole—they shrink a bit as they pickle.
I lightly blanched the okra and peeled the cherry tomatoes.

I was a bit short on sugar this time, so I added some coarse sugar (zarame) for depth.
✨ Tip: Add sugar and salt while the rice is still warm so they dissolve properly.

Seal and refrigerate.
These pickles are also ready to eat the next day.

🍽️ Taste Test

The next day, I plated everything.
Each vegetable was beautifully coated, sweet-salty, and utterly delicious.

In our family taste test:

• My husband and eldest son voted for the eggplant
• I personally loved the zucchini best

It’s fun to pickle according to each person’s favorite! 🍆🥒

🍵 Tea Pairing: A Cooling Herbal Blend

We paired the pickles with a medicinal tea from China tea café Seisha.
It includes honeysuckle, Chinese honeysuckle, dried citrus peel, and cassia seeds.

It’s flavorful, beautiful, and nourishing—like a treasure chest of Eastern herbs.

Let’s balance salt and hydration wisely and stay cool through the summer!

Try pickling your favorite vegetables in this sweet rice bed.
It’s a gentle, joyful way to savor the season.

👉 Recipe for the rice bed:🍚 Chapter 1: Mochigome Tsukedoko — A Sweet Rice Bed for Summer Pickles