Shibazuke (Kyoto) (しば漬け)
Kyoto's purple pickle: aubergine, cucumber and red shiso salt-pickled together until the shiso colours everything.
| What it is | A salt pickle (shiozuke family) of summer vegetables with red shiso, soured by gentle lactic fermentation |
|---|---|
| Place | Ohara, in the hills north of Kyoto City, is its best-known home |
| Name tradition | A local tradition links 'shiba' to the firewood (shiba) bundles of Ohara's sellers - told as tradition, not settled fact |
Shibazuke shows what shiso does twice in Japanese pickling: in umeboshi it colours red from the side, and here it is a main ingredient, dyeing aubergine and cucumber a deep purple-pink and adding its unmistakable perfume.
It is one of Kyoto's named pickles (with senmaizuke and suguki, which sit in the turnip family). Bought abroad it comes in small packs; serve it chopped over rice or beside grilled fish, as Kyoto serves it.
See also
ShiozukeRelated page in this guide.Umeboshi
Related page in this guide.
Sources: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), 'Traditional Foods in Japan'; JAS soy sauce standards; Umami Information Center; Kikkoman official information; Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Checked 6 November 2026.