Cooking
Does this ever happen to you? You read about some interesting ingredient, the next thing you know it ends up in your shopping basket. I'm sure it was Thy's post about yuzu that got me on the lookout for all yuzu related products. I spotted yuzu fruit spread at Trader Joe's, and the next thing I knew I was opening the jar at breakfast the very next day. I have to admit, I knew yuzu was an Asian citrus fruit, but I'd never come across it fresh or even in juice form, reading Thy's post was the first time I realized it was also known as "citron".
In restaurants I've had yuzu vinaigrettes and sauces with savory dishes, but I'd never had yuzu in a sweet form. Really, it's much more like yuzu jelly in consistency, with just the tiniest bit of lemon peel in it, and it tastes like a complex and nuanced citrus jelly. The flavor is sweet and sour with a lemony kind of tang. But it's very subtle. It doesn't hit you over the head the way orange or grapefruit does. I tried it first on an English muffin, and it melted into the nooks and crannies.
Yuzu fruit spread melts so smoothly that you could easily use it as a glaze on fish, or as the base for a sauce, a little soy sauce would balance out the sweetness. Whisking it up with a little lemon juice makes a great dressing for fruit salad. Or maybe as a sauce over vanilla ice cream. Seeing as how a 3.5 ounce bottle of the juice will cost you $10 or more, the fruit spread is a good way to try it out and experiment a bit. The 10 ounce jar costs only $2.29
FOOD
- Fancy Food Show Winter 2010 Cool Stuff
There were a number of things I saw at the Winter Fancy Food Show that really intrigued me this year. But tasting something is not the same as cooking with, or trying something in my own home kitchen, so I decided I would put some of the most provocative...
- Kona Kampachi Ceviche: Recipe
I know, it's February and I ought to be singing the praises of cabbage and turnips but frankly I'm not in the mood. The sun is shining, the weather is warm and I feel like celebrating with something tropical and refreshing. I need a break from...
- Japanese Hot Stuff
I came back from Japan with numerous delectable food purchases. The first thing I brought was "yuzukosho". I was served this green paste as a condiment with nabe, a dish where you cook what you like in a pot on the table. It's a combination of the...
- All About Meyer Lemons
If you like the tang of lemons, but not the pucker, Meyer lemons are for you. They are not nearly as tart as conventional lemons, and their peel is slightly sweet. Like a regular lemon perfected, the color and juice are amped up and the peel is thinned...
- Volcano Lemon & Lime Bursts
When I was growing up we always had a big green bottle of lemon juice in the fridge. It was from concentrate and tasted of chemicals. Nasty stuff. Fortunately my in-laws have a lemon tree and give me boxes of fresh lemons. But limes are another story......
Cooking
Favorite Things: Yuzu
Does this ever happen to you? You read about some interesting ingredient, the next thing you know it ends up in your shopping basket. I'm sure it was Thy's post about yuzu that got me on the lookout for all yuzu related products. I spotted yuzu fruit spread at Trader Joe's, and the next thing I knew I was opening the jar at breakfast the very next day. I have to admit, I knew yuzu was an Asian citrus fruit, but I'd never come across it fresh or even in juice form, reading Thy's post was the first time I realized it was also known as "citron".
In restaurants I've had yuzu vinaigrettes and sauces with savory dishes, but I'd never had yuzu in a sweet form. Really, it's much more like yuzu jelly in consistency, with just the tiniest bit of lemon peel in it, and it tastes like a complex and nuanced citrus jelly. The flavor is sweet and sour with a lemony kind of tang. But it's very subtle. It doesn't hit you over the head the way orange or grapefruit does. I tried it first on an English muffin, and it melted into the nooks and crannies.
Yuzu fruit spread melts so smoothly that you could easily use it as a glaze on fish, or as the base for a sauce, a little soy sauce would balance out the sweetness. Whisking it up with a little lemon juice makes a great dressing for fruit salad. Or maybe as a sauce over vanilla ice cream. Seeing as how a 3.5 ounce bottle of the juice will cost you $10 or more, the fruit spread is a good way to try it out and experiment a bit. The 10 ounce jar costs only $2.29
FOOD
- Fancy Food Show Winter 2010 Cool Stuff
There were a number of things I saw at the Winter Fancy Food Show that really intrigued me this year. But tasting something is not the same as cooking with, or trying something in my own home kitchen, so I decided I would put some of the most provocative...
- Kona Kampachi Ceviche: Recipe
I know, it's February and I ought to be singing the praises of cabbage and turnips but frankly I'm not in the mood. The sun is shining, the weather is warm and I feel like celebrating with something tropical and refreshing. I need a break from...
- Japanese Hot Stuff
I came back from Japan with numerous delectable food purchases. The first thing I brought was "yuzukosho". I was served this green paste as a condiment with nabe, a dish where you cook what you like in a pot on the table. It's a combination of the...
- All About Meyer Lemons
If you like the tang of lemons, but not the pucker, Meyer lemons are for you. They are not nearly as tart as conventional lemons, and their peel is slightly sweet. Like a regular lemon perfected, the color and juice are amped up and the peel is thinned...
- Volcano Lemon & Lime Bursts
When I was growing up we always had a big green bottle of lemon juice in the fridge. It was from concentrate and tasted of chemicals. Nasty stuff. Fortunately my in-laws have a lemon tree and give me boxes of fresh lemons. But limes are another story......