What Is Yuzu?
Get to know this tangy ingredient that brightens up desserts, drinks, marinades and more.
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By Layla Khoury-Hanold for Food Network Kitchen
Layla Khoury-Hanold is a contributor at Food Network.
A versatile fruit that pops up everywhere from dessert toppings to cocktail recipes, yuzu has a distinctive flavor. To learn more about what yuzu is and how to use it, we consulted Eunji Lee, chef-owner of Lysée, a pastry boutique in New York City.
What Is Yuzu?
Yuzu is a fragrant, sour and tart citrus fruit the size of a tangerine with bumpy yellow skin. “Yuzu, or yuja in Korean, is a citrus that resembles a bright yellow mandarin,” Lee says. “Yuzu grows in Korea, Japan, some parts of California and the South of France.”
Yuzu is commonly used in Chinese, Japanese and Korean cooking. Fresh yuzu is harder to come by in the U.S., however, so you’re more likely to find bottled yuzu juice or frozen yuzu zest for sale.
What Does Yuzu Taste Like?
Yuzu tastes like a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange. It also has a light, floral sweetness. Lee describes yuzu’s flavor profile as sweet, sour, bright and citrusy.
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How to Use Yuzu
Use yuzu juice and yuzu zest to add acidity, fruity freshness and brightness to desserts, drinks and savory dishes. Try whisking yuzu in salad dressing or marinades in place of lemon or lime juice, mix it with soy sauce to make ponzu, a classic Japanese dipping sauce, or employ it in cocktails to add a dose of acidity to balance sweet flavors. “At Lysée, we use yuja in many different ways, such as in a madeleine, loaf cake, seasonal juice and our seasonal tart,” Lee says. “We're making a yuja syrup with yuja juice to glaze our madeleines and loaf cakes, and also use the juice in our seasonal juice with fresh honey crisp apple juice and vanilla bean.”
Yuzu peels can be used to make yuzu marmalade, which can be incorporated into desserts like Lyseé’s seasonal apple-yuzu tart with yuzu cream and yuzu marmalade. Yuzu marmalade can also be used in savory applications, too. “In Korean cuisine we also use the marmalade to marinate beef instead of using sugar or honey,” Lee says.
Recipes with Yuzu
Teri Lyn Fisher
The aromatic, citrusy flavor of yuzu juice works beautifully in this easy, elegant no-bake dessert.
Ryan Liebe, Ryan Liebe - 2015
For this summer sipper, the sweet-tart notes of chilled yuzu juice plays off rum and mango nectar. It's the perfect complement to the spicy, chile-infused simple syrup.
For a dynamite dressing to accompany battered-and-fried shrimp, chef Alex Guarnaschelli mixes mayonnaise and yuzu juice into a bright, creamy base, and then whisks in mustard, paprika and lemon zest.
Matt Armendariz, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved
The secret ingredient in chef Bobby Flay’s crowd-pleasing grilled salmon isn’t in the flavorful marinade—it’s the finishing touch. He drizzles yuzu juice over the miso-ginger marinated fish, adding a delicate, aromatic flourish.
Chef Ming Tsai combines yuzu juice, sweet maui onions, sesame oil and soy sauce in a food processor to create a sweet and citrusy dressing that’s ideal for a salad mix incorporating peppery mizuna and earthy tatsoi.
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