noun
sagohachi; pickling base of salt, rice kōji, and cooked rice
A traditional Japanese pickling base, typically made with salt, rice kōji, and cooked rice in a 3:5:8 or 3:8:5 ratio. Used for making 三五八漬け (sagohachi-zuke) pickles.
See also: 三五八漬け
三五八で野菜を漬けると、まろやかな味になる。
When you pickle vegetables with sagohachi, they get a mellow flavor.
この三五八は、塩と麹と米を3:5:8の割合で混ぜて作ります。
This sagohachi is made by mixing salt, kōji, and rice in a 3:5:8 ratio.
麹漬け is a broader term for kōji-based pickles; 三五八 is a specific type with a fixed salt-kōji-rice ratio.
The name comes from the ratio of ingredients: salt (3), rice kōji (5), and cooked rice (8), or sometimes salt (3), rice (8), and kōji (5). The reading さごはち is the on'yomi of the numbers 三 (san → sa), 五 (go), 八 (hachi).