Talin Market World Foodie Fare

What golf ball-sized Japanese fruits are some of the hottest items on the culinary scene today?

The answers are the flavorful and delicious yuzu and sudachi.

Chefs all over America are discovering the tiny Japanese citrus yuzu and sudachi.  Although previously unfamiliar to most people outside of Japan, these fruits are making a big impact on the American culinary scene.

Yuzu and sudachi are not eaten like oranges.  Rather, great chefs know that the flavors of the juice and the zest pair extremely well with seafood, salads, desserts, and cocktails.

Yuzu has a taste somewhere between grapefruit and mandarin orange.  The juice is excellent when used as a light dressing, as in ponzu, or to create a tangy sauce for pan-seared or grilled seafood.  The zest can be used as a flavorful garnish on cold soba noodles, or for a different twist in martinis.

Sudachi is a similar fruit, used in much the same way as yuzu.  However, it has more of a lemon taste and is slightly bitter.  This provides for a variation on the more sweet flavor of yuzu.  Sudachi zest is delightful as well, especially in drinks.  We even carry a sudachi-flavored soju from Japan.

Both fruit are available throughout the fall and even in the winter.  Although they're not the most inexpensive citrus around, they're sure to delight your senses for those special dishes. 

Try this recipe for an easy yuzu salad dressing:

Yuzu Dressing

Serves 2 

• 2 tbsp Freshly squeezed yuzu juice
• 2 tbsp Kikkoman or good Japanese soy sauce
• 1 tsp Mirin (Sweet Cooking Wine)
• 4 tbsp Vegetable Oil

As with any vinaigrette, combine all the ingredients except the oil, and then drizzle the oil in, while whisking, to properly incorporate.

Here are other excellent links for yuzu recipes:

ReMARKable Palate yuzu recipes 

Food Network Sliced Raw Tuna & Yuzu 

Posted by Victor at 01:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What?  Does the thought of eating a persimmon make your mouth pucker?

Forget what you know about the other varieties.  Fuyu persimmon are the best of them all!

Traditionally, persimmons had to be ripe before you could eat them - the tannins in the fruit made them especially astringent (something like an extra green banana or a strong red wine, but 10 times worse).  But when they ripened, they would have a jelly-like consistency, which didn't always equate to an appetizing experience.

However, fuyu persimmons have none of that astringent quality.  This tomato-shaped fruit can be enjoyed both crunchy or soft.  Just peel, slice and eat!  You can even eat the thin rind if you like.  To sweeten the deal, Talin Market's fuyu persimmons have no seeds!  And, if you eat enough, persimmons might even cure baldness*.

Asian cultures highly prize this fruit, even so much as to dry persimmons to have months after the season is over!  The Greeks call it "diospyros", or "the fruit of the gods."  Take one taste and you'll find out why!

Eat them plain, or in fruit salads.  Or you can even try this recipe for persimmon cookies!

Persimmons are a great source of fiber, and vitamins A, and C, as well as the B vitamins, including folic acid.

As with most good things, they won't last.  If you hurry, you can get them at Talin Market for less than $1.00 a pound until about November.  Since when has something so divine been so affordable?

* Persimmons do not cure baldness.  However they taste so good you might not care that you're bald. 

Posted by talin at 08:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)