Yuzu Kosho Oil: The 3-Ingredient Japanese Hot Sauce Recipe You’ll Want to Use for Everything
Photo credit: Alex Van Buren
Living in New York City, I’m lucky enough to eat at great Asian restaurants often, and I love all of it: spicy mapo tofu at Chinese restaurants; phở and bun at Vietnamese eateries; khao soi at Thai joints. Each nation’s cuisine is often signified by the sauces adorning the table: soy and maybe black vinegar at a Chinese spot; hoisin for Vietnamese; maybe Sriracha at a Thai place.
At Japanese restaurants, of course, we’re accustomed to seeing little pitchers of soy sauce. But a couple weeks ago, while dining at a new izakaya — the sort of place that serves Japanese snacks to nosh on while drinking — I absentmindedly stuck a spoon into an innocuous-looking red sauce in a tin on the table, and drizzled it on some fried chicken.
I was bowled over. Floral, bright, hot, and fruity in equal measure, this was my dream condiment.
Meet yuzu kosho oil, the easy-to-make hot sauce that will have you obsessed. Yuzu kosho, a fermented chili-yuzu paste, is common in Kyushu, in southwest Japan, where it’s often sold in a little jar, says Ganso Yaki co-owner Harris Salat. His executive chef and co-owner, Tadashi Ono, dreamt up a riff on the paste (which on its own is too thick to use as a sauce), which they call “yuzu kosho oil,” and which is as easy as pie to make on your own.
And it goes on everything: chicken? Yes. Beef ribs? Yup. Sautéed mushrooms? Absolutely.
Ono simply took the yuzu kosho, added yuzu juice and a glug of oil, and put a little jar of it on every table. As Salat says, “It works great with fish, pork, chicken, beef, lamb; it’s so versatile!”
It’s also insanely addictive. Give it a whirl, use it on everything, and report back!
Yuzu Kosho Oil
Courtesy of Tadashi Ono, Ganso Yaki
½ cup vegetable oil (such as soybean oil)
1 tablespoon red yuzu kosho* (available online and at specialty Asian markets)
½ tablespoon yuzu juice
Blend together until smooth. Store in refrigerator for up to one month.
*Melissa Clark, genius recipe developer for The New York Times, suggests that, if you’re not able to find bottled red yuzu kosho, you can substitute 1 teaspoon of hot sauce or chile powder mixed with 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice and 1 teaspoon lemon zest.
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