Yuzu kosho

Yuzu koshō

What it is

It is farmhouse work from the mountains of Kyūshū, around Hita in Ōita: zest, chilli and salt at something between a tenth and a fifth of the weight, then months in a crock. Kosho means pepper in standard Japanese but chilli in Kyūshū dialect, which is why people go looking for peppercorns that were never in it.

In the kitchen

A quarter teaspoon seasons a bowl for two, and it brings salt, heat and acid at once, so cut the salt in the dish before adding it. Stir it in off the heat: cooked, the zest oils go and only salt and burn remain.

Goes with

Soba noodles Gilt-head bream Chicken Silken tofu (kinugoshi) Scallop Pork

Also used with

Chicken tail (bonjiri) Japanese amberjack (buri) Kinkan (unlaid egg yolks) Chicken cartilage (nankotsu)

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