Nishiki Ichiba - Kyoto

Nishiki Ichiba is a known as “Kyoto’s market”. It is a narrow street in downtown Kyoto with more than one hundred shops where people can buy seasonal foods and Kyoto specialities. Some shops also give out samples to taste. 

The first shop was opened around 1310. At the beginning, the place was a fish wholesale district. Then, shops selling other products moved there, among these products, the Kyo-yasai (Kyoto vegetables) and the tsukemono (Japanese pickles).

Pickles can be prepared with many vegetables but also some fruits. The most common are made with carrot, cucumber, cabbage, eggplant, ginger, shallot, plums …There are several kinds of pickles : shiozuke (salt), nukazuke (rice bran), kasazuke (sake lees), shoyuzuke (soya sauce), suzuke (vinegar) and misozuke (miso).