I love ponzu sauce, the wonderful Japanese sauce that is, for want of a better description, a lovely vinaigrette-like sauce used for dipping, scenting, or saucing. I had been told that you can’t really make a traditional sauce at home ‘cause you needed the juice of the Asian citrus yuzu to authenticate it. Well, I found fresh yuzu and splurged (it was $8.99 a pound) so I could get a taste of the real thing. I hunted around my myriad number of cookbooks to see if I could get a hint of how to make the real thing and then went to the internet. Found too many variations and none that particularly pleased me so I devised my own. Here is my version should you find fresh yuzu and feel like splurging – or maybe it is now being grown commercially in California and Florida and it will soon be ubiquitous, just like kiwi and we can all have fresh ponzu in our fridges!
1 cup fresh yuzu juice
1 cup soy sauce
¼ cup mirin
¼ cup rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon orange juice concentrate
1 strip dried kombu
2 tablespoons dried bonito flakes
Combine the yuzu juice, soy sauce, mirin, vinegar, and concentrate in a nonreactive container. When blended add the kombu and bonito flakes and stir. Cover and set aside to marinate for at least 3 hours before using.
When ready to use, strain through a fine mesh sieve, discarding the solids. If desired, add a couple of chopped scallions just before using. Ponzu sauce will keep, covered and refrigerated, for 2 weeks. It may be frozen.
