Senmaizuke

Step 1: Clean the jar or container and lid: wash in hot soapy water, rinse, then dry in a 250°F oven for 10 minutes (or pour boiling water over and in it and air-dry upside down). Let it cool; it must be completely dry.

Step 2: Peel the 1 ¾ lb large white turnips thickly, down past the fibrous outer ring, and slice into 2 mm rounds on a mandoline, keeping them in order.

Step 3: Layer the slices in a shallow dish, sprinkling 0.6 oz fine sea salt evenly between the layers. Cover with a plate and a weight about the same as the turnips (a bag of water works) and leave for 1 hour, until the slices bend without snapping and a pool of water has collected.

Step 4: Meanwhile, warm ¾ cup rice vinegar, 2 ⅛ oz sugar, 2 tbsp mirin and ½ tsp fine sea salt in a small pan over a low heat, stirring, just until the sugar dissolves and it starts to steam, about 2 minutes; it will smell sharp and sweet and the alcohol from the mirin cooks off. Cool completely.

Step 5: Wipe the ½ oz kombu with a damp cloth (keep the white powder, it is flavour) and soak it in 3 tbsp of the cooled sweet vinegar for 10 minutes, until soft enough to cut. Cut into thin strips about 3 mm wide.

Step 6: Tip away the water from the turnips and squeeze the slices gently in handfuls; they should feel soft and slightly springy, not mushy.

Step 7: Layer the slices in the clean container, overlapping like fallen cards, scattering kombu strips, and 1 dried red chilli and 1 tbsp yuzu peel if using, between the layers. Pour the sweet vinegar over and press down so everything is submerged.

Step 8: Cover with cling film pressed onto the surface, close and refrigerate. It is good after 1 day and best after 2–3 days, when the slices are translucent and the kombu is slippery. Keeps 1 week in the fridge; take it out with clean chopsticks. Throw it away if it fizzes, smells rotten, turns slimy or grows mould.