yuzu tea

yesterday we went for another little shopping spree in Chinatown. as ever, i always feel at home there. the scents, the shop windows, the people... all hodgepodge and one big soup of different cultures. i just love it.

and there s always something new to be discovered.

like this little pot.

now, what is it? it says: Citron Tea and underneath Yuja Tea. now 'yuja' sounds Korean to me, and the ingredients list mentions Korean citron, honey and fructose...
but on the side it also says 'yuzu cha' written in Japanese, besides té citrico in Spanish, and Лимонный Чай (limoni chai) in Russian (fun, isn t it?)

but then i opened it:

hmmm, looks like marmelade to me.

but the scent, that perfume! yuzu, yuzu, yuzu! my favorite citrus fruit. just a little of this fruit goes a long way. a little sliver of its peel in a chawan mushi (a Japanese egg custard like soup) just lifts the flavor like nothing else will.

i use yuzu juice in a martini, and i know someone who marinates chicken in it along with some garlic and olive oil (still have to try that, but it sounds scrumptious especially for a bbq).

anyways, i digress. so this pot of yuzu scented honey thing which looks more like something to spread on buttered toast, is tea?

ok, so i poured some boiling water on it, and well, it s a better version of just plain lemon and honey. but the instructions say mix 20 gr (about 2-3 teaspoons) in hot water. how much water? no idea! so it was too sweet the first time, but i found a balance and i think that s the key; add as little or as much as your sweet tooth allows.

so i found that just adding 2 heaped teaspoons in a teapot of about 400ml hot water, along with a few slivers of fresh ginger makes for a refreshing 'tea'.

sipping this now while my oven is working overtime. i m baking some 'krazy kake' cupcakes for my best friends son s birthday. the little devil didn t want anything else but... hehehe

will have to go back to Chinatown soon, all those little treasures still to be discovered!

oh, and i did try a little bit of the yuzu honey on toast, but that was really too sweet. just so you know ;-)