For the memory of Paralympians: Thinning Yuzu fruits

Over the Village for Tokyo 2020, one early evening,
 a flock of migratory water birds was passing by.
 They were beautiful …

A nephew of a friend of my family is a grape farmer in Yamanashi 山梨, a neighboring prefecture for Kanagawa. He quitted his office job in Tokyo some 20 years or so ago to nurture gorgeous dessert grapes. After so many trials and errors, his vineyard becomes to earn top prizes regularly in Yamanashi. His grape has golden color of very large fruits, 2cm or 3cm in diameter, and de-li-ci-ous. It is very sweet and juicy preserving slight tanginess of grape. Ya-mmmmmmy!!! Every year, he sends his harvest to our family, in a large box. This year, it arrived during Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. I brought some grapes to National Paralympics Team for a certain country. The athletes and the staff or the delegation loved it and asked if there is more. Er, sorry, it’s once in a year treat …

Japanese residential block
 in the Village during Tokyo 2020.
 Oh, I was not an assistant for
 Japanese National Team, for sure.

To grow that size of grape, it is very important to thin out fruits from very early stage of its growth. I once saw a farmer thinned sesame-sized grape from a bunch of still 5cm or so in length. He had to drop fruits in a strategic way, imagining the final product of perfect shape with grapes of 3cm in diameter. He then does the same at the different point of growth for his crop. It’s a job requires patience.

That grape was definitely larger than this supermarket version.

After Paralympics were over, I cast my eyes to a Yuzu tree in a garden of our family. September is the time when young Yuzu fruits start to have 4 or 5cm of diameter. Our tree had a lots of fruits, for sure. Many of them, still very green, were dangling from the same brunch, rubbing each other’s shoulder … they won’t have blemish-less skin when they turn yellow … I gawped the tree … You know, I was completely exhausted after Tokyo 2020 … It then clicked. Why not thin the green yuzu fruits, and make Yuzu chili sauce? So, I thinned Yuzu fruits from the tree in our garden. I had a bumper crop.

Congested

My harvest!

From these green Yuzu fruits, I’ve made Yuzu Chili Sauce, Green Yuzu Juice for Yuzu Sour, and Green Yuzu liquor. All have a simple recipe, but it takes time for them to mature. Here are recipes.

<Yuzu Chili Sauce>

1. Peel green yuzu. The point here is in order to prevent tart taste to avoid white cushy staff just below the green peel, and any damaged skin of Yuzu fruits.

2. In food processor, mix the green Yuzu peel with salt and green hot chili peppers. The ratio of these ingredients is Yuzu peel 6 and hot chili pepper is 4. Salt is in the weight of 23% of peel and chili pepper combined. Yap, it’ll be very salty condiment. 

3. Store the mixture in a clean jar in refrigerator. The sauce is ready to eat immediately after the food processor. But it matures along several years …

Yuzu Chili Sauce, 2021

The same condiment of 2019.
Could you see how this mixture matures?

<Yuzu Sour Juice / Yuzu wine>

Actually, the process is same for both drinks. First throw in a large jar Yuzu fruits after denuding them. Add the same volume of rock sugar as the fruits, then pour vinegar or distilled liquor such as vodka, gin, whisky … to cover fully the fruits and the sugar. In 1-to-2-month time, the contents of the jar becomes fruits sour (with vinegar) or Yuzu wine (with alcohol).

Yuzu wine some 2 weeks later after preparation …

The thinned green yuzu fruits are now maturing in dark corners of our house. I’m crossing my fingers for them to be a nice company of our table. Let me see how they will turn out …

If you find a problem in the greenery of north-half of Yokohama, please make a contact with

Office for the Park Greeneries in the North
北部公園緑地事務所
Yokohama Municipal Government Creative Environment Policy Bureau
横浜市環境創造局

Phone: 045-311-2016
FAX: 045-316-8420