# Pickled Shallots ｜ Our Regional Cuisines

**Cuisine Name**: Pickled Shallots

**Region**: Our Regional Cuisines

## Main Lore Areas
Fukube Town in Tottori City, Hokuei Town

## Main Ingredients Used
Shallots

## History, Origin, and Related Events
Shallot cultivation in Tottori Prefecture is old, dating back to the Edo period. It’s said shallots were brought back by Koishikawa Yakuen during one of his official stays in Edo as a daimyo. The shallot has a robust vitality and can grow even in sand dunes, so at the time it was cultivated by a small number of farmers for their own use. An industrial union was established in the early Taisho period, and full-scale production began in earnest when sprinkler irrigation was introduced. It was around 1965 when the processing of salting and seasoning began. The increase in production area led to a significant increase in shipment volume, but the market price for it plummeted. Taking this as an opportunity, the agricultural cooperative started a processing business, and by incorporating it as a processing ingredient, they figured out how to adjust shipments and stabilize prices.

## Opportunities and Times of Eating Habits
They’re harvested from late May to mid-June. They are salted and seasoned and sold as souvenirs of the Tottori Sand Dunes, so they can be eaten all year round.

## How to Eat
There are two ways to pickle shallots: “honzuke” and “easy pickling.” In honzuke, the shallots are washed and pickled in salt for at least two weeks, then desalinated and pickled again. By pickling in salt, the shallots undergo lactic acid fermentation and become delicious pickled shallots, but adjusting the salt removal is difficult and time-consuming. “Easy pickling” is a pickling method that saves the trouble of pickling in salt and does not require desalination, so you can easily pickle it whenever you want. However, it does require refrigeration. The most popular way to pickle shallots is “sweet vinegar pickling,” but in the local area there are various methods of pickling, including: “Salt pickling,” “red wine pickling,” “perilla pickling,” “apple vinegar pickling,” “black sugar pickling,” and “black vinegar pickling.”

## Efforts for Preservation and Succession
“Washed shallots” and “rooted shallots” are sold during the harvest season, and processed shallots are sold all year round. In 2006, the Tottori Inaba Agricultural Cooperative (which is within the jurisdiction of Fukube Town) registered a trademark and promoted branding. In 2015, “Tottori Sand Dunes/Fukube Sand Dunes Shallots” were registered under the GI System (Protected Geographical Indication System).

## Ingredients
- Shallots: 4kg
- Salt: 1.2kg
- Shallot vinegar: 1.8L
- Rock sugar: 1kg
- Red chili peppers: 8 small

## Recipe
1. 1. Pickle shallots in salt and leave for 10 days to 2 weeks.(If you don't want to eat them right away, save it like this.)
2. 2. Remove the salt under running water. (Bite them and they should be a little salty.)
3. 3. Prepare boiling water.
4. 4. Spread the shallots on a strainer and sprinkle with boiling water, then cool.
5. 5. Put the shallots in a container sterilized with boiling water, add the rock sugar, shallot vinegar, and red chili peppers with the seeds removed. Seal the container and store in a cool, dark place.

## Provider Information
provider : Recipe provided by: Tottori Prefecture

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