Autumn fruit!

In Michigan, where I grew up, apples were the autumn fruit. Of course, Japan has delicious apples, but I've learned to enjoy a fruit here that I'd never had before I came to Japan.

That's the Yuzu. It looks like a cross between an orange and a lemon. It's got a zesty, citrus flavor that is too strong to be eaten by itself. Every fall, people pick yuzu and use the juice to flavor sauces, sprinkle over food, or even in the bath.

This year we got a bunch of yuzu from a friend of mine, and Noriko put them to good use. She cut razor thin slices of the peel and put that over my bento lunches. She also cut the peel into strips, soaked it in water to soften it and then dipped it into Ghiradelli chocolate. Delicious!

My favorite use for yuzu is to mix the ground peel with hot thai chili peppers. That makes 'yuzu kosho' or yuzu pepper. We eat a winter dish called "shabu shabu" where we dip thin slices of meat and vegetables into a boiling water, and then dip them into a soy and vinegar sauce with grated daikon radish and the yuzu pepper. The heat from the daikon, the spicy pepper, the citrus of the yuzu, and the salty soy sauce great a perfect combination. It's one of my favorite flavors and I could eat it for dinner every night.

Comments

[K.C.]

yuzu and honey tea is great too!