Fukujinzuke (福神漬け)
The sweet, dark, chopped pickle served with Japanese curry - included here with an honesty note: it is a soy-sauce pickle, not a ferment.
| What it is | Daikon and other vegetables chopped and steeped in a soy-sauce-based seasoning; crisp, sweet-savoury, reddish-brown |
|---|---|
| Name | Linked by tradition to the Seven Lucky Gods (shichifukujin) - said to gather seven vegetables |
| Fermentation status | Not a fermented pickle in the strict sense; it belongs to tsukemono as a family, which is why this guide places it here and labels it plainly |
Fukujinzuke is the pickle most visitors meet first, because it arrives automatically with Japanese curry. Its crunch survives the sauce, and its sweetness answers the spice.
A guide to fermented foods could quietly claim it; this one does not. Fukujinzuke is made by steeping in seasoned soy sauce, not by fermentation - but the soy sauce itself is fermented, and the pickle belongs to the tsukemono shelf, so it earns its page with its status stated.
See also
KoikuchiRelated page in this guide.What are tsukemono?
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.