January Fermentation Classes & Making Yuzu Yubeshi
Holiday Sale on Fermentation Courses + Capturing the Essence of Yuzu with Yubeshi
Hello friends,
Holiday Special
Fermentation Fundamentals
Before we catch up on matters of food alone, QU’s Fermentation Fundamentals class will be offered again in January, this time in more digestible 2-week courses rather than a month-long journey. Just in time for the holidays, we will be offering a discount on our courses, so now’s the perfect time to buy the class as a gift for you loved ones (or as a treat to yourself).
10% off with the discount code (HOLIDAYS10) for Substack users.
The sessions will be focused on offering theory and hands-on practice, as usual. While our communal cooking sessions were fun, I’ve heard your feedback. The 4-week long course was quite a commitment, and since many of our students have proven themselves to be quite accomplished cooks on their own, I’ve simplified the curriculum to focus solely on the fermentation practice itself. For more details on what you’ll be making in class, click the link below.
Making Yubeshi
I have been relentlessly busy this season with courses, popups, and keeping up with my restaurant ferments. Sadly, this leaves me with very little time to experiment with small projects at home, the list of which is growing infinitely faster than I can keep up with. However, I was able to finally tackle one item on the list that has been there forever: yubeshi, whole yuzu preserved with miso and nuts.
As a result of my recent popup with Kuma Ramen I was lucky enough to score some lovely boxes of yuzu shipped straight from Japan. While the majority of the aromatic citrus went to a small batch of yuzu amazake vinegar which will be available for sale, I saved just a few fruits for myself to try my hand at making yubeshi.
In Japan, yuzu yubeshi are prepared either savory or sweet, the former consisting of a filling of aka and hatcho miso (both extremely dark, well-fermented misos) while the latter tends to be made with lighter misos and have more sugar and rice flour mixed in. I decided to go for the sweet one, as I can’t wait to serve this sliced thinly with a nice cup of tea. If you prefer the savory version, served with soup or over rice, here is a nice recipe.
Yubeshi
5 whole yuzu
100g shiro or shinsu (white or yellow) miso
40g sugar, you can use okinawan black sugar or raw sugar if you prefer
40g glutinous rice flour
15g walnuts, toasted and broken into large pieces
Step 1
Slice the top off each yuzu at the stem end about 1-cm deep from the top of the fruit. Hollow each yuzu fruit out with a spoon, being careful not to puncture the skin. Save the fruit in another bowl. Remove as much of the pith as possible from the cap and inside walls of the hollowed fruit, being careful not to puncture through. A hole will result in the filling leaking out when the yuzu are steamed.
Step 2
Mix the miso, sugar, glutinous rice flour, and toasted walnut pieces together.
Step 3
If the miso mixture is somewhat stiff, add a few drops of yuzu juice leftover from the reserved yuzu pulp. Stuff the miso mixture into the hollowed yuzu, spreading the filling evenly to meet the walls of the fruit. Leave at least 1cm of distance between the filling and top of the hollowed yuzu fruit. Do not overstuff or pack it too tightly. The filling will burst out while steaming as it expands inside the fruit if overstuffed.
Step 4
Prepare a steamer basket over a pot of boiling water brought to medium-low and steam the yuzus, caps on, for 20 minutes. Check the yuzu after 20 minutes, adjusting the caps to fit perfectly on top of the hollowed fruit. The caps may slide off during the steaming process, so you will have to readjust them until the filling rises enough to stick to the cap and hold them in place. Steam for another 40 minutes and remove the basket from the heat. Let cool.
Step 5
Once the yubeshi are completely cool, wrap them in a layer of parchment or cheesecloth and hang them in a dry, well-ventilated and cool place. I like to hang them outside away from rain and snow so they stay nice and cold while they dry out. Age for at least 1 month, up to 6. Unwrap, slice, and enjoy.
Until next time.
Thanks for reading,
Polly