yuzu Archives - Taste With The Eyes

Salmon Cucumber Poke Bowl

Salmon Cucumber Poke Bowl
Almond Ginger Scallion Ponzu

“Chopped raw fish, or poke, was part of my everyday life when I was growing up in La’ie, the rural town on O’ahu’s north shore. The sea was our playground,” penned Chef Sam Choy in his book Poke, Mutual Publishing, 2009.

In the old days, fresh-caught reef fish would be cut up and seasoned with salt produced by evaporation of the ocean water. Then inamona (ground roasted candlenut) and limu (seaweed) were mixed in. That’s it.

As a nod to Hawaiian poke of the past…here, buttery marcona almonds stand in for local candlenuts, and dashi seaweed broth brings the essence of the sea. Ginger, scallions, soy sauce, and yuzu juice lend background complexity and Japanese touches, while cucumber adds a cool fresh crunch. But this recipe keeps true to its old-style Hawaiian roots – simple, delicious, and uncomplicated – high quality fish with no spicy mayonnaise or syrupy sauces squirted on top.

Chef Sam Choy is a four-time nominee for the James Beard Best Pacific Regional chef award, winning in 2004. He is often credited as the “Godfather of Poke” and the Culinary Ambassador of the Big Island. Read my interview with him about poke and sustainability here.

Salmon Cucumber Poke Bowl Recipe

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Fresh Yuzu Bohemian Cocktail

Fresh Yuzu Bohemian Cocktail, Yuzu Foam

It’s cocktail hour! And time to use the yuzu. The fruits on my Southern California yuzu tree are at their ripest. On a trip back to LA last week, we picked the yuzu and flew home to Las Vegas with a big bag of fresh citrus fruit. It’s OK to carry on the plane per the TSA. Good to know!

An extremely aromatic fruit, a basket of yuzu perfumes the whole room. No wonder that it makes an equally aromatic cocktail; a heady complex floral elixir with notes of mandarin orange, grapefruit, lemon, and lime.

The traditional Bohemian Cocktail is made with grapefruit juice. Substituting fresh squeezed yuzu takes this cocktail to a whole new exotic level. The foamy head adds a layer of luxurious richness and creamy texture to balance the tart invigorating citrus. A dash of bitters always finishes a classic cocktail with more aromatic notes and cool understated stylish flair.

Fresh Yuzu Bohemian Cocktail Recipe

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Totally Captivating Yuzu Tea

We harvested the last of this year’s yuzu fruit today. It is a neat fruit to grow in the garden because it can be used in so many different recipes and is edible when young and green all the way into the late fall when it is ripe and yellow. An extremely aromatic fruit – a basket of yuzu perfumes the whole room. And it makes an equally aromatic tea: a heady floral elixir with notes of mandarin orange, lemon, lime, and grapefruit.

The yuzu tea recipe is quite simple. Cut the fruit in half around the equator and remove the seeds. The seeds are large and plentiful but easy to extract. I use the skinny end of a teaspoon to pop them out. Slice the fruit into slivers. Without taking too much trouble, remove as much pith as possible. Place cut fruit in a bowl and muddle with a good amount of sugar. Once well-muddled, place the yuzu/sugar mixture in a teapot and pour in boiling (filtered) water. Steep only briefly then pour the sweet citrusy tea into mugs, along with some of the soft rinds and flesh which are edible too.

5 Fabulous Bloggers: Just One Cookbook

Gyutan | BBQ Beef Tongue

Hi everyone! My name is Nami, and I share quick and easy Japanese home cooking at my blog, Just One Cookbook.

I’m really excited to be here today to celebrate Lori Lynn (LL)’s 5 year anniversary for her blog! Congratulations LL! For the past year I’ve followed her blog and I’ve been continuously inspired by her beautiful and unique creations. Each week I am really excited every time I receive recipe updates from her. Working together in the food blogger community, she is someone special to me because I truly admire her culinary talents and magical photography skills. I feel very honored to be invited by her today for this special series of guest posts she’s having. Thank you LL!

The only request from her for this guest post was that I cook something exotic. For someone who is not familiar with Japanese food, it’s possible to think many dishes in Japanese cuisine can be exotic, such as sashimi (raw fish). Being a Japanese myself, I had to give it some thoughts and I finally came up with one, which might be too exotic for some readers.

I prepared gyutan, which is grilled sliced beef tongue. Until I did a bit of research for this post, I didn’t know that beef tongue is used not only by Japanese cuisine, but enjoyed in many other cuisines such as American, Mexican, Romanian, German, Persian, English, Russian, Italian, Filipino, Korean and many more (source). I was very surprised when I found this out since I don’t typically see beef tongue on restaurant menus (except in Mexican Taquerias).

The Japanese word gyutan is a combination of the Japanese word for cow (gyu) and the English word tongue (tan). The region in Japan that first started to cook gyutan was Sendai and it was initially considered a rather unusual dish, but gradually gained popularity throughout Japan around 1950s.

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Italian Twist on Yuzu

pignoli yuzu gremolata

Yuzu is a captivating versatile citrus that has been valued in Asian cuisines for centuries. This twist on an Italian condiment employs the yuzu in a fusion-style preparation. The young green yuzu fruit of September has turned a mellow golden yellow. Both the young green and the mature yellow fruits are used in cooking, so we’ve enjoyed fabulous yuzu all through autumn and winter. The rind is very aromatic, the juice is tart. Yuzu adds a striking bright note to vegetables. Its flavors are more complex than lemon – maybe like a combination of grapefruit plus mandarin orange with a hint of sour lime? Pair the zest with pine nuts, garlic, and a pinch of salt – and this gremolata will brighten up any winter roasted vegetable dish!

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