I’m a fermentation freak. From weeks-long brine soaks for whole vegetables, to beer and wine brewing, to an endless turning of the piles of kitchen wastes and garden weeds, if microbes can transform a thing, I’m eager to see the results.

Having had some pretty interesting successes (and failures — brined green beans, no!) with fermentation, I’m always eager to branch out and learn new methods. At the Dekalb Farmers Market last weekend, they finally had quart-size jars of wheat bran for sale. I bought about two and a half pounds of it for a couple of bucks, and raced home to get started on my Nuka bed — a nearly immortal culture of beneficial microbes requiring daily tending and providing super-fast pickling of even whole vegetables.

Nukazuke Basics

To understand the nuka concept, you should know a couple of things about how microbes interact to ferment vegetables. First, these processes are anaerobic. To make a basic cucumber pickle, it’s vital to keep the cukes submerged in your liquid medium (traditionally a strong brine). Second, salt is a fast and easy method for generating conditions that are favorable to the growth of lactobacillus (you want that) and unfavorable to a lot of annoying bugs you don’t.

Exposure to air leads to degradation: molds, yeasts, general cellular destruction. The difference between a cucumber in brine for a month and cucumber sitting out on your counter for a month would be obvious, even without a taste test.

With nuka fermentation, instead of using a liquid brine, bran (traditionally rice bran) is used to create a durable growth medium for the LAB (lactic acid bacteria) and assorted yeasts which will collectively transform your food. The bed requires daily stirring and mixing for proper aeration, and this should be done with clean hands. The microbes that live on your skin will help to replenish and balance the living culture which is fermenting your food. Pretty cool, if you ask me.

In Japan, living nuka crocks have been passed down through generations of families. That’s mind boggling.

What You Need

• I decided to use a black, one-gallon, food grade plastic bucket that was once home to kalamata olives, so my portions work out for that volume of space. Adjust to suit your needs.
• 2-ish pounds of wheat bran. Probably a similar amount of rice bran if you find that.
• One sheet of kombu seaweed. Soak it in water for a little while to rehydrate it.
• Handful of red pepper flakes or similar. Change the measurements to suit your tastes. If you’re not big on spicy, use less or skip this step.
• Garlic. I used fermented garlic from the jar I keep in my cupboard, which probably helped to inoculate the bed. I added a lot, but I’m gay for garlic.
• Live beer. Home brewed is best, all full of yeasty joy. A slice of bread will apparently work, too. Puree it with some water and it will help foster yeast growth.
• Five cups of water
• Four or five tablespoon of salt. Less is probably alright if you’re not a salt fanatic. These processes are surprisingly flexible.

Making the Nuka Bed

1. Pour the water and salt into a pot and boil. Make sure all the salt dissolves. Cover and set aside to cool.
2. Toast the bran. I did it in two batches in my wok, turning it with a wooden spoon over medium heat. After a few minutes, the aromatics start to come out. A few minutes more and it’ll be hot to the touch. I think this step serves two roles: to enhance the flavor quality of the bran and as a dry sanitizing “rinse.” But don’t overdo, and don’t burn the bran. You’re not at war with the bugs.
3. Pour the toasted bran into a large bowl or into the crock where it will ultimately live.
4. Scatter the red pepper flakes onto the bran.
5. Shred the kombu and add it.
6. Add your garlic cloves or pickled garlic cloves.
7. Pour the cooled saltwater mixture over the bran. This is a good time to mix it up to make sure it’s not too wet. Use your (clean) hands and mix and squeeze. I’ve seen the proper texture described as being similar to wet sand. That seems about right. It should be thoroughly moist but not dripping when you pull a handful out. If it feels too dry or too wet, add additional brine or bran.
8. Assuming the mixture isn’t soggy, pour some of the beer (or the bread puree) into the mix. Stir it up again. The rest of the beer is for drinking. Enjoy.
9. If you’re working in a bowl, now is the time to transfer the nuka bed into the crock where it will live.
10. When not transferring vegetables in and out of the nuka crock, keep it covered with a cloth. I tie mine tightly on because the south is insect central.

Congratulations! You’re now the proud owner of a nukazuke crock.

Starter Vegetables

Now that you’ve got a great medium put together for the growth of beneficial microbes, you need to start feeding it. The cultures in the mix will take a few weeks to fully inhabit the space and mature, so don’t panic if your early efforts are uninspiring. I began with carrots because they seemed easy to work with and I love root ferments. Each of the first three days, I cut up two large carrots and buried the pieces throughout the nuka bed, removing the previous day’s starter vegetables. They were universally limp. On the third day I rinsed and tasted what I took out, which was like a soggy, salted carrot. Very little tang to it.

To diversify, I switched to cabbage wedges. Those came out more promising, and actually the batch I just took out tasted *amazing*. I replaced those with some small beets, which I love like Christians and Jesus, and can’t wait to taste them tomorrow. If this is how stuff is coming out five days in, I’m going to love this thing once my cucumber plants get a little larger.

To maintain the crock, mix it up daily and keep it covered so flies don’t land. Experiment with different lengths of pickling as the crock matures. I will be. Right now I can’t stop thinking of tangy beets after a 24 hour nuka ferment.