Washoku, Japanese citrus and yuzu-cha (yuzu 'tea')

I’m catching up on a few things! First of all, I have a new article in a special Japan Times supplement. It tries to answer the question, “What is washoku?”, or traditional Japanese cuisine. Back in December (previously) washoku was designated as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and this is more about the subject.

Also (and I am a bit late posting this…) from this month my regular Japan Times column will have a recipe with the article. First up is an article about the different kinds of winter citrus fruit that you can get in Japan, plus a recipe for yuzu marmalade. Marmalade made with yuzu fruit is truly outstanding - so fragrant, with just a right amount of bitterness - so I hope you’ll give it a try!

If you want to do something even simpler, try making yuzu-cha or yuzu tea. All you do is to freeze some roughly cut up yuzu, then add it to a sterilized jar. Add half its weight (or as much as you like) in sugar, and leave it somewhere where you will see it every day. You should use granulated or castor sugar (superfine sugar). The yuzu is frozen to break down its structure so that it releases more juice and oils, but you can just it fresh if you like.

Give it a good shake at least 2-3 times a day until the sugar has melted. You can use the whole fruit, as shown in the photo below (the container on the left), or use the peel only and the juice for something else. Store the jar in the refrigerator once the sugar has melted.

The yuzu-cha is added to hot water or tea to make a sweet ‘tea’, which is really refreshing. Try a tablespoon or so in a mug with boiling water.

You can use honey instead of sugar, but I think in this case sugar works best since it doesn’t interfere with the yuzu fragrance. (The jar on the right has kumquats in syrup. If there is interest I’ll post that almost-not-a-recipe too.)

An even easier way to enjoy yuzu year-round (especially if you are trying to stay away from sugar…) is to peel off the yellow part or the zest thinly, and to just freeze it. You can julienne or chop it up if you like before freezing, or cut it up as you like when you use it. It adds that wonderful yuzu fragrance to soups and vegetable side dishes, to grilled or simmered fish, or anything you like. A bit of the peel floated on a cup of hot tea is really nice. We can get very expensive fresh yuzu here in France…it costs the earth, but I buy a few just because that fragrance is so irresistable.

And finally: just for people who have been kind enough to send me words of encouragement — I just have two more seeks to go of this latest round of radiation therapy. It is making me kind of sick again but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully by spring I’ll be out and about again!

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IMUSA Chef Citrus Juicer Giveaway

I’m partnering with IMUSA to giveaway a Chef Citrus Juicer by Jen Lin-Liu. There will be one (1) winner whom will receive one (1) IMUSA Chef Citrus Juicer. The retail price of the IMUSA Chef Citrus Juicer is US$24.99.

IMUSA Citrus Juicer will be the main squeeze in your kitchen. The sleek, contemporary design provides an easy to use one lever operation when making juice. The sturdy cast base and non-slip rubber feet provide stability when squeezing your favorite citrus fruits. A stainless steel strainer separates seeds and pulp from the juice as it flows into the matching stainless steel cup. Try fresh orange or grapefruit juice at breakfast for a healthy start to your day or freshly squeezed lemons for a homemade lemonade that will impress your guests! The manual juicer extracts juice from oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit, and other citrus fruits easily and efficiently.

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White Wine Sangria courtesy of IMUSA
(Makes 5-6 servings)

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice (about 4 oranges)
1 bottle white wine, like Pinot Grigo
¼ cup agave nectar
1 red apple, diced
1 cup pineapple, diced
½ cup seedless grapes cut in half
1 lime, thinly sliced
Club soda to finish

Method:

Use your IMUSA Citrus Juicer to extract the juice of 4 oranges, to yield 1 cup of juice.

In a large pitcher, combine the orange juice, white wine, agave nectar, apple, pineapple, grapes and lime. Stir until well combined and reserve in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Add 2 ice cubes to each glass, and then pour sangria until the glass is ¾ full. Use a long spoon to scoop some fruit into the glass.

Top off with club soda. Cheers!

Eligibility: United States. No purchase necessary and subject to this official giveaway rules. Closing Date: September 1, 2013, 11:59 pm PST. Winner will be randomly selected and contacted via email on September 2, 2013. The prize is proudly sponsored by IMUSA. To enter, please follow the steps below.

Eligibility: United States. No purchase necessary and subject to these official giveaway rules.

Step 1
Like Rasa Malaysia on Facebook. (Click on the Like button below.)

Step 2

Follow Rasa Malaysia on Twitter. (Click on the Follow @rasamalaysia button below. If you don’t have Twitter, skip this step.)

Step 3

Fill in the form below. You can enter to win using this form every day.

You will be redirected to the “Thank You” page if your entry is successfully submitted.

ONE ENTRY PER DAY STRICTLY ENFORCED.

cforms contact form by delicious:days

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'An Image Of A Gourmet Fish And Citrus Salad' Wall Decal - Removable Graphic

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WallMonkeys are intended for indoor use only.

Printed on-demand in the United States Your order will ship within 3 business days, often sooner. Some orders require the full 3 days to allow dark colors and inks to fully dry prior to shipping. Quality is worth waiting an extra day for!

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Our catalog of over 10 million images is perfect for virtually any use: school projects, trade shows, teachers classrooms, colleges, nurseries, college dorms, event planners, and corporations of all size.

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Citrus in Red Painting by Ulla Mayer Raichle Fine Art Print / Poster 16.00 x 19.75 in.

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Winter’s Citrus – Double Tangerine Cocktail

We’ve been pounced with rain for well over a week now. The unforgiving rain turned our roads into raging rivers and the dark clouds shut out the sun for about 5 days straight. That’s a rarity in Southern California, to not see the sun for so long. Now we know what the rest of the country feels like! Yes, we’re spoiled.

The only ones in our household really complaining about all the water are our dogs, who get limited outdoor romp time. Dante & Sierra practically have to be forced to go outside to do their duty. We won’t be surprised if they get bladder infections. Ha, they’re wimpy city dogs.

All our lettuce and green seedlings are living it up with all the extra water. And our fruit trees LOVE all this water. After the rains, all the citrus trees seem to get a huge growth spurt and new flowers start to appear. Rain water is like crack for them, not to mention a nice, needed shower.

Our Fremont Tangerine (mandarin) tree is starting to explode with color. During the fall, the all the green fruit dotting practically every inch of the branches were camouflaged amongst all the leaves. But recently after all the rains and a few moments of bright sunshine, the fruit are quickly turning color to a fantastic orange hue.

Some areas get snowballs this time of year, we get tangerines.

Post rain fruit is always spectacular and terrifically sweet. It’s a tradition for us to run outside and eat the deepest colored citrus. The fresh, bright, addicting sweet-tangy flavors are the best reward after being cooped up in the house during rain.

Here’s one of our favorite cocktails to make with the tangerines, simply named Double Tangerine. It’s always a toss up whether to make this cocktail or a Kentucky Sidecar.  This one is heavier on the tangerine and the Kentucky Sidecar has a nice kick with the whiskey.

-Todd & Diane

 Print This Recipe

Double Sidecar Cocktail Recipe
We usually make this with a ginger simple syrup (slices of fresh ginger infused into the batch of simple syrup) but it is quite good with a regular simple syrup. Adjust the simple syrup quantity to taste and by the sweetness of the tangerines.

3 oz (@2 tangerines) fresh Tangerine Juice
1/2 oz (@1/4 lemon) fresh Lemon Juice
1 oz Ginger Simple Syrup
1 1/2 oz Cognac

superfine sugar for coating rim (optional)

1. Rub the rim of a chilled cocktail glass with a tangerine wedge & sugar the rim.

2. Put all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice, then shake it with passion for 15-20 seconds.  Strain into your cocktail glass.  Garnish with a tangerine twist, or for a sexy addition drop a few raspberries into the cocktail glass.

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Orange & Fennel Salad with Toasted Fennel Vinaigrette – Welcoming Citrus Season

Citrus season has finally arrived in our garden and hopefully in about 4 more weeks, we’ll be able to share a few rounds with friends. Last year we doubled up on an extra blood orange tree (for Katie!) and an extra Eureka lemon tree. Plans for this year are to add 3 more citrus trees because, yes, we’re addicted.

No, you really can’t have too much citrus, that’s our life motto. All the better to make cocktail with!

We can’t tell you how excited we get when it comes to citrus gardening and there’s some fun news coming in February! Unfortunately we can’t spill any beans now, but know that it’s going to be about our crazy citrus tree collection!

Since last week’s Thanksgiving eating bonanza, followed up a ridiculous craving of belly burning chili cheese fries, we’re ready for something fresh. We’ve been gnawing on arugula leaves, celery and anything green that the garden is throwing out.  The few days of holiday indulgence really did us in and it takes days of fresh raw veggies and citrus cleansing to get us ready for Christmas cookies and baked goods.

Tender baby fennel are perfect for picking, they’re sweet, crispy and perfectly fragrant. The aroma of the fennel coupled with the sweet acidity of the seasons first oranges make the perfect re-freshing follow-up to all the turkey, stuffing and fries we indulged in.

Citrus and fennel are such a wonderful pairing. Something magical happens on the palate when fennel and citrus come together. With some added baby arugula, this terrific winter salad is bursting with flavor. Each bite is juicy, sweet, floral and tenderly spicy from the delicate arugula. The vinaigrette in this salad is laced with the warm flavors of toasted fennel seeds. It’s hard to not want to have two plates of this, even for breakfast. Why not have a orange and fennel breakfast salad?

This recipe is wonderful with oranges, but we’ve seen other fabulous variations with tangerines and grapefruits. Every variation seems like a perfect accompaniment to delicate, crunchy fennel bulbs. You can create any ratio you want with the citrus and sliced fennel. Maybe when our fennel bulbs become more robust, we’ll adapt the recipe to be a fennel and orange salad.

Either way, hope you enjoy this wonderful salad to celebrate the arrival of wonderful citrus. Hope your home fills up with plenty of bright, fragrant zest!

-Todd and Diane

the aroma of fresh tender fennel bulbs & orange peel is amazing!

 Print This Recipe

Orange Fennel Salad with toasted Fennel Vinaigrette Recipe
adapted from Lucini Orange Fennel Salad

about 4 Oranges1 T Fennel Seeds3 T Olive Oil, 1 T balsamic vinegar 1/2 t Sea Salt, or to taste1 medium Fennel Bulb, thinly slicedhandful of Baby Arugula Leaves (optional)

1. Slice the rind and pith completely off of the oranges. Next slice the oranges 1/4? thick.

2. In a dry saute pan over medium heat, toast the fennel seeds for a few minutes until the aroma is nicely released and they change color slightly.  Crush well in a mortar & pestle or grind in a small spice grinder or coffee grinder.

3. Combine ground fennel seeds, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and sea salt in a small bowl and whisk to mix.

4. Layer orange slices and sliced fennel bulb on serving plates.  Quickly re-mix vinaigrette then dress oranges and fennel. Garnish with arugula.*Another option for salad – Layer in a lot more arugula to have a more greens-heavy salad. The pepperiness of the arugula goes quite well with freshness of the oranges and fennel.

More Orange & other Citrus Fennel Salads:

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