Another vitamin-lacking meal
One of my photos of the Sunday Market shows some “Yuzu Kosho,” but I had never tried it before. Actually I didn’t know we had such a thing here in this town. Yes, yuzu is popular here… we have lots and lots of yuzu-related stuff sold in this prefecture, thanks to the locally famous Umaji-mura (Umaji village)where they grow tons of yuzu. People in my hometown, including my family, HAVE TO add some yuzu-vinegar in addition to the regular vinegar when making sushi, and in addition to ponzu sauce when eating Nabe. But many people here don’t even know what yuzu kosho is, and I, too, didn’t know until very recently (2 days ago) that it was a paste of ao-togarashi (green chili pepper?) mixed with grated yuzu rind.
OK. Time to try something new. So I made this … which I have no idea what to call. Yuzu-kosho sesame chicken? Anyway, I seasoned the chicken pieces with sake, mirin (rice wine) and just a little bit of salt. Then I put just a little of yuzu kosho on the chicken surface (because it was so spicy when I tasted it beforehand)and sprinkled the black sesame seeds. The chicken pieces were placed in a baking dish, covered with aluminum foil, and baked in my toaster oven. I don’t use toaster oven for baking cakes and cookies, but for this kind of cooking, toaster oven is faster. When it looked almost done, I removed the aluminum foil and heated some more until the chicken turned golden brown (or something close).
And ……… IT WAS GREAT!!! With the squeeze of sudachi (a kind of citrus), the combination of spicy yuzu kosho and sweet sesame seeds added a great flavor to the chicken. Oh this is going to be my must-have when I drink warm sake in winter!
|
3 comments:
Obachan, nice to meet you. I've had a tube of "Youki yuzu kosho" for a month now, not knowing what to do with it (picked up fr kotobukiya grcery in Cambridge, MA...)I love the yuzu scent but only have found them in bottles. thank you so much for sharing this. Can't wait to cook this dish, my toaster oven awaits. Now if only I could find fresh yuzu... I've added your blog to my faves :)
Hi drstel,
Oh,thank you!! I’m not familiar with Youki yuzu kosho, so I don’t know if it would taste the same as the one I used this time. Actually mine has some unique scent, but it doesn’t smell like real yuzu at all. I wonder if that's the way it's supposed to be.
I think squeezing some kind of citrus on the chicken before you eat really makes a difference. If no sudachi or fresh yuzu is available, lemon or lime could do, I suppose (but no sure. Sorry). Hope your chicken dish turn out great!
I used to put a tiny bit of this in Miso soup but I don't even have Miso here (in Spain). Someone sent me some Yuzu Kosho and I was looking for a way to eat it without making Miso soup.
I think I'll try making your chicken recipe - it sounds good (and they do have lots of nice chicken in Spain). :)
Post a Comment