Akadozuke ｜ Our Regional Cuisines

1. Cut off the leaves from the stems of the red potatoes and wash them thoroughly with water.

2. Spread plastic wrap on a shallow tray, place the red potato stems on it, and sprinkle the specified amount of salt over them. Rub the salt into the stems.

3. Wrap them in plastic wrap, put a board on top, put a weight on the board and leave overnight.

4. When the stems become flexible, soak them in a barrel, sprinkle vinegar all over them, press a lid on them and put a weight on top. Black juice will come up, so remove the juice. After about 10 days when the juice turns red, peel the skin and cut them into 3–4cm pieces to eat. They’re delicious when eaten with ginger soy sauce.

5. Note: When the whole stem is dyed red, store them in the refrigerator to keep them fresh. (If you leave them at room temperature, they turn black.)

6. Note: Since the salt content is low (3-4%), vinegar is used until around the equinox week. Since the temperature drops after that, you can achieve the red color through lactic acid fermentation without using vinegar. The redder the potato skin, the more vivid the red color will be.