Each national cuisine is distinguished by its traditions and secrets. And the dishes themselves, belonging to a particular country, are unique in taste and aroma. Seasonings, sauces and spices, popular in the homeland of these culinary masterpieces, give them such an individuality. Any nation has such products and dishes - a kind of visiting card of the whole country.
In Japan, it is ponzu sauce. It is served with fish, seafood and meat, used as the basis for various soups. The Japanese themselves simply dip in bread and enjoy eating in this form.
What is this amazing seasoning made of? And how to make a ponza at home for an ordinary Russian person?
What is ponzu sauce made of?
The composition of the sauce is quite complicated. Traditional Japanese products are used for it:
- Kombu algae (a kind of kelp).
- Sweet Japanese wine Mirin is a very popular supplement in the national cuisine of this country.
- Rice Vinegar
- Dried katsuobushi or dashi fish (dashi).
- Yuzu citrus juice.
Some recipes use fruits of fuss (a type of mandarin) or cabos (a hybrid of papeda and bitter orange). All of them have a sour taste, so they are often replaced with ordinary lemon.
Yuzu fruit to taste - something between lime, orange and tangerine. At the same time, it has an unusual aroma that makes it unlike other citrus fruits. And if the sour taste is easy to repeat through the use of these analogues, then the aroma of yuzu cannot be replaced.
Having all of these products available, it’s easy to make the sauce:
- Wine, fish and seaweed are mixed and brought to a boil.
- Then cool, remove algae and add yuzu.
- To soften the acid, you can put sugar and the seasoning is ready.
If you add lightly salted soy sauce to this composition, you will get a completely different product - ponzu shoyu. He is also very popular in Japan.
How to make ponzu sauce at home?
Recipe 1. Mirin wine and seaweed
There are a lot of cooking options for this Japanese sauce.
Here is one of them:
- Boil half a glass of Mirin wine.
- Pour in half a glass of soy sauce.
- Add 60 mg of citrus vinegar or regular lemon / lime juice.
- Send dry washed algae (about 5 cm) there.
- The sauce needs to be cooled and refrigerated.
Recipe 2. Three Citruses
An even simpler recipe for ponzu sauce.
- Take 3 citrus fruits: orange, lime and lemon. Cut them in half and squeeze the juice. Hold the zest of lime and lemon in water to remove bitterness.
- Put the juice on a small fire and boil a little until slightly thickened.
- Crush one clove of garlic, grate a centimeter piece of ginger on a fine grater. Squeeze the juice out of them.
- Chili pepper is divided into three parts, one of which must be crushed to a state of gruel.
- Pour 80 mg of soy sauce and ginger and garlic juice obtained earlier into a cup.
- Add the slurry of pepper and thickened citrus juice.
- Mix the composition and pass through a sieve or cheesecloth.
- Now put the finished peel of citrus. After some time, it must be removed.
- Garnish with finely chopped cilantro before serving.
Recipe 3. Wine, Citrus and Dried Tuna
- Sake or Mirin (100 g) evaporate over low heat for one minute until the alcohol evaporates completely.
- Add 80 g of soy sauce and 15 g of rice vinegar to the resulting substance.
- Squeeze the juice of lemon and orange.
- Mix everything and add 20 g of dried tuna, chopped into chips.
- The sauce should be infused for a couple of hours, after which it should be filtered.
Recipe 4. Successful combination
- Citrus and soy sauce, mirin, lemon juice and yuzu juice - place the listed products in an amount of 100 g (each component) in one jar.
- Add the zest of lemon, 20 g each of dried chopped tuna and dried seaweed kombu.
- Close the jar with a lid and leave for three to four days.
Recipe 5. Dasha's Broth
In this embodiment, dashi broth is added. Here's how to cook it:
- take 40 g of anchovies or pre-soaked dried tuna and a piece of dry seaweed;
- put food in a pan, pour a liter of water. Put on fire, wait for boiling and immediately remove the algae;
- simmer the broth for another 5-7 minutes.
You can also purchase dasha powder in the store. It is bred and used instead of broth.
So, the recipe for dasha sauce:
- Squeeze the juice from half a lemon.
- Add to it two tbsp. tablespoons of rice vinegar.
- Then pour in 5 tablespoons of soy sauce.
- In 1/2 cup of warm boiled water, dilute 50 g of dasha powder and add to the main composition.
- Ready sauce must be allowed to brew.
Citrus or rice vinegar
Citrus or rice vinegar is traditionally used in Ponzu recipes. These ingredients can be bought at a specialty store. And in the absence of such an opportunity, it is easy to make an identical supplement at home.
To make a flavoring additive, you will need apple or grape vinegar:
- Apple vinegar. Combine one tablespoon of vinegar and boiled water. Throw a teaspoon of sugar and a little salt into the mixture. Bring to a boil and turn off immediately.
- Grape Vinegar Take 3 teaspoons of sugar and a pinch of salt. Add 4 tablespoons of vinegar. Heat until sugar is dissolved. Boil also should not.
Another recipe for citrus vinegar for Ponzu:
- Take the peel of lemon and orange (you can fresh or dried). Pour a liter of vinegar (9%) and insist a week.
- Strain and pour into containers.
- Store the finished mixture in a cool, dark place.
This aromatic vinegar is used not only for sauce, but also in barbecue marinade and for dressing salads. It is also often added to meat and fish.
You can buy ready-made Ponzu sauce in a specialty store, a large supermarket or online. But in terms of taste, it will significantly lose to the home version. The taste of the purchased counterpart is sharp and watery. After all, it is, in essence, a regular soy sauce mixed with lemon juice.
Ponzu sauce, prepared at home, has a fundamental taste difference. It is sour, salty, sweet and bitter at the same time. And its aroma is so unusual that it is difficult to verbally describe. This is an indescribable bouquet of smells of wine, fruits and flowers.
Seasoning has an interesting feature of “adapt” to the taste characteristics of the products with which it interacts. Moreover, each ingredient, whether it is fish or meat, reveals only one side of its taste. Ponzu sauce goes with so many dishes, turning each of them into a true masterpiece of culinary art.
Isn't it worth it to go shopping to find the right products to personally appreciate this amazing invention of Japanese cuisine?