Sure, you’re buying the occasional Meyer lemon, blood orange or clementine and visions of sour orange and calamansi may dance in your head, but for overall complexity, there’s a reason yuzu has hung on to its culinary currency. It’s associated with Japanese cuisine (and Japanese markets are where you’re most likely to find it, either bottled or fresh, or blended with red or green chili peppers to make the condiment yuzu kosho), but it’s widely used in Korean cuisine as well. It’s also cultivated in the U.S., where imports of the fresh fruit are banned. Here’s how to make the most of its singular combination of flavors.
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Citrus
Yuzu is a kind of pan-citrus, whose flavor touches on aspects of them all. Pairing with citrus is tricky—often a citric wine will fall flat. Instead, a still-crisp but rounder wine with citrus-adjacent notes like apple and honey will retain its character. Enter Chenin Blanc, with its unique blend of acidity and richness.
Bitter
Like grapefruit and pomelo, yuzu has an appealing bitterness that adds to its complexity. Portugal’s lower-alcohol Vinho Verde white blend is an often-overlooked pairing wine, almost like a dry grapefruit soda with overtones of citrus zest and blossom (and even a bit of effervescence at times). It’s a lovely way to bring yuzu’s savory side to the fore.
Lemongrass
While other citrus mostly just read “sour,” yuzu’s herbal notes have more in common with lemongrass, which—like the greens sorrel and purslane—recalls citrus without being in any way related. Play to this green side with Verdejo, which tastes of lemongrass and fennel sprinkled over unripe melon and stone fruit. Learn more about this underrated Spanish varietal here.
Floral
It’s the floral notes of yuzu zest that have cemented it as the sexiest of all citrus. Shave a little on a Microplane and imagine yourself draped in Hawaiian leis. Muscat usually shows up sweet, but dry Muscat still boasts those honeysuckle and orange-blossom notes that are reflected in yuzu.
This article originally appeared in the November 2023 issue of Wine Enthusiast magazine. Click here to subscribe today!
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Last Updated: October 16, 2023
