Kuzu

Kuzu

What it is

Yoshino kuzu is made by washing crushed winter-dug root through change after change of cold water for months until nothing but the starch remains, which is why it arrives as chalky lumps and costs what it does. The same vine was shown at the 1876 Philadelphia exhibition, then planted across the American South to hold the soil, and is now the weed that ate the region.

In the kitchen

Crush the lumps and dissolve them in cold water before they meet anything hot — kuzu will not disperse in a warm pan. About 2 % by weight gives a pourable sauce, and keep stirring a full minute after it turns clear or it tastes of raw starch.

Goes with

Adzuki bean Ginger Okinawan black sugar Hon-mirin Kombu Soy sauce Matcha White sugar

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