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Yuzu
Citrus junos · Citrus
40 pairings
Yuzu (Citrus junos) is a small, knobbly, intensely aromatic East-Asian citrus, ripening from green to a rough yellow, with a perfume that suggests grapefruit, mandarin and a floral, almost herbal lift all at once. It yields relatively little sharp juice and a great deal of fragrant peel, so it is prized for its zest and a splash of juice rather than eaten as segments — the defining note of Japanese and Korean cooking, from ponzu and yuzu kosho to dressings, sorbets and the midwinter yuzu bath.
Picking a good onedrag
Heavy, taut, oil-brightPuffy, dull, scent gone
Shop freshThe all-rounder: zest, juice, ponzu, marmalade.Everyday best
RindYellow, still green at the shoulder
Weight in handSolid, rind just starting to move
Stem endCalyx paling, the ring round it still dry
Smell at the rindScent comes when a thumb is rubbed over it
What to look for, from heavy, taut, oil-bright to puffy, dull, scent gone.
Keeping ittap a band
A domestic fridge holds it about 6× longer than the counter.
Humidity
90–95%
A loose bag in the crisper: bare, that thick rind shrivels. The 80-85% of Japanese long stores comes after curing, which a shop fruit has not had.
Airflow
Loose bag, not sealed
Perforated or slit, never airtight: sealed and damp the calyx sweats, and stem-end rot takes the fruit from the button down.
Green rind yellows beside apples
It makes almost none itself, but yuzu is degreened commercially with ethylene, so the same gas off apples and bananas pulls the green out and dries the calyx.