Yuzu Is The Ultimate Asian Superfruit You Need To Know About
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You’ve probably heard the word yuzu thrown around before, whether it was an ingredient in a complex cocktail or it caught your eye on a recent dinner menu. So what actually is this trendy ingredient? Yuzu, called yuja in Korean cuisine, is a sour Japanese citrus fruit that looks similar to a small grapefruit. It has bumpy skin and can range from green to yellow, depending on the degree of ripeness. Yuzu is valued for its vibrantly aromatic rind and its ability to maintain its tart and sour nature at high cooking temperatures. The citrus fruit has a scarce amount of juice, which makes it on the expensive side. It stands out from other citrus fruits as a cross between a mandarin, a grapefruit and a lemon. Here’s why yuzu is the ultimate Asian superfruit you need to know about:
Asian Cuisine
The intensity of fresh yuzu is out of this world, but you don’t actually eat this citrus fruit straight. Instead, it’s used as a souring ingredient through its zest and juice. The coolest part about yuzu is that it can withstand very high cooking temperatures without losing any of its flavor. The zest of this fruit is jam-packed with vibrant oils, which make every part of it usable in the kitchen. Yuzu provides the base for Japanese ponzu sauce (a tart citrus-based sauce with a thin and watery consistency and a dark brown color). Yuzu Kosho has become a secret weapon in the kitchen for many chefs who import it from Japan, China and California. This is a spicy paste-like Japanese condiment made from fresh chiles, which are then fermented with salt and spiked with the juice and fragrant zest of yuzu. You can use the juice with raw oysters or with uni, mix it into a dressing or add it to a ceviche marinade. The citrusy flavor of yuzu goes well with flavors like ginger, matcha and soy and goes well with seafood and fish dishes. For those of you with a sweet tooth, add a dash of yuzu juice into a custard or meringue.
Cocktails
Yuzu is commonly used as an ingredient in cocktails in place of lemon or lime juice. Adding just a drop to a cocktail goes a long way and it’s treated more like bitter than a fruit juice. Yuzu is perfect for sweetening libations, but it can also work just as well in drinks with a drier flavor profile since it won’t be overpowering. In order to make the most out of this citrus fruit since the juice yield is pretty small, muddle the whole thing for whatever cocktail you’re making. How about using yuzu simple syrup for a yuzu gimlet? Or maybe a yuzu mai tai? Use your best judgment and make sure you balance out the citrus with any sweet, sour and bitter elements.
Health Benefits
In addition to cooking and mixing up cocktails with yuzu, the Asian citrus fruit also comes with some interesting health benefits. You can use it in combination with honey for treating certain respiratory infections like a sore throat or other symptoms associated with the common cold. Yuzu is a rich source of Vitamin C and has impressive anti-carcinogenic, inflammatory and antioxidant properties. According to this study, the fragrance of yuzu alone may also alleviate negative emotional stress and can have soothing effects on your body.
This Asian citrus fruit wears many hats but it isn’t all that easy to come by, so treat it like gold.
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