Nori is an edible seaweed. It is called “laver” in English. It grows naturally on exposed shores and is cultivated in some places. It is either purplish red or green, but both varieties turn black when dried. Dried nori is made into letter-size sheets and packed into bundles for sale. Nori is toasted and used to wrap rice balls and roll sushi (makizushi). Nori is sometimes served with rice at breakfast. You use small strips of nori to wrap a bite of rice. It can also be wrapped around pieces of mochi.
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Japanese pickles (tsukemono) are mostly made from vegetables. The base for pickles can be salt, rice bran (nuka), miso or vinegar. Turnip, eggplant, cucumber and daikon radish are commonly pickled vegetables. Lightly pickled radish (asazuke) is pickled in salt and ready to eat in just two or three hours. Pickled plums (umeboshi) take at least several weeks. Takuan, made from Japanese white radish (daikon), takes three to seven months. Tsukemono is considered an essential part of a meal.
In the past, each household made its own pickles, handing down special recipes from mother to daughter.
Nowadays, although the tradition survives, people also like buying their pickles at the supermarket.