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Yuzu Curd & Konfijt
From Riekie's Kitchen
Riekie lives with her husband and three little dogs in Egmond aan Zee and has a great love for anything you can catch in a jar: curds, jams, marmalades, candies, sambals, you name it. Her creations eagerly find their way through the village and are even favored by the many tourists who visit this North Holland coastal town.
Especially for Dutch Wasabi, Riekie developed two recipes with our fresh yuzu from our own cultivation: a velvety yuzucurd and an aromatic yuzu confit. Both recipes are ideal for the holidays: they are easy to make in advance, surprisingly versatile and bursting with flavor.
Tip: You can also make the confit very well with our fresh Buddha's hand make (season: approx. Nov-Dec)!
Yuzucurd (for about 450-500 ml)
Want to make more or less yuzu curd? Then divide or multiply all ingredients by the same number to keep the proportions the same.
Ingredients
- 200 ml of yuzu juice (approx. 8-12 fresh yuzu or pre-made juice)
- 3-4 tsp zest of fresh yuzu (More zest gives more intense aroma, and more texture). If it is not yuzu season, you can also omit the zest or replace it with (a mix of) lemon, tangerine, and orange zest.
- 165-200 g sugar (tune this according to how sour you like the yuzu's and how sour/sweet you want the curd to be)
- 5 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 120-150 g unsalted butter, diced
- Pinch of salt
Preparation
1. Knock
Mix eggs, egg yolks, sugar and salt in a heatproof bowl.
2. Add juice + zest
Stir in the yuzu juice and zest.
3. Au-bain-marie
Place the bowl over a pan of gently boiling water and stir until the curd thickens to custard thickness. This usually takes about 10-18 min. However, this depends on your stovetop, pan, etc., so watch and stir and keep a close eye.
4. Incorporating butter
Remove from the heat and stir in the butter cubes until the curd is smooth and glossy.
5. Optional sieving
If you want a super smooth result, you can press the curd through a sieve if necessary. If you want to keep the zest in the curd (we really like it!) then we recommend not sifting the curd.
6. Retain
If you make yuzu curd thoroughly hot in a good sterilized jar does and immediately seals, leaving a vacuum develops, you can store it for a long time. Unopened in the refrigerator about 4-6 weeks and in the freezer up to one year. (These are indications, look, smell and taste (carefully) carefully yourself).
Yuzu confit
Ingredients
- 3-4 fresh yuzu
- 200 g sugar
- 200 ml of water
- (optional) additional sugar to “sugars”
Preparation
1. Peeling
Wash the yuzu fruit well. Peel them with a peeler or knife, removing the white bitter part as much as possible. Cut the peel into strips.
2. Blanch
Bring a pan of water to a boil, add the zest and boil for 2 minutes. Drain. Repeat 2-3 times if necessary. This step is to reduce the bitterness of the peel, and thus depends on how bitter you find the peel and how much white is left on the peel.
3. Konfijten
Bring 200 g sugar and 200 ml water to a gentle boil. Add the yuzu peel. Simmer on very low heat for about 30-45 min, until the peels are glassy and translucent.
Be careful not to let the peels caramelize. And don't stir with force; rotate the pan gently if necessary. Be careful, it's very hot!
4. Finishing
You can use the confection wet Storage (in syrup): put the candied peels with the syrup in a sterilized jar. Store in the refrigerator 1-3 months.
Or you can use the confection dry Preserve (sugaring): let the peels dry on a rack for 2-4 hours. Roll them in granulated sugar. Store in an airtight jar 1-2 months.
Application
Yuzucurd and confit is delicious for all kinds of baked goods such as: scones (with clotted cream), (cheese) cake, pie (yuzu meringue or chocolate) and cookies. But also great at the breakfast: on French toast, pancakes, yogurt and party toast. In addition, it is super festive and tasteful in the dessert after dinner: on pavlova, through mousse, bavarois, trifle and ice cream.
The curd is a bit more acidic and fresh and works great as a filling, while the chutney is a bit sweeter and more aromatic and is great as a topping.
The tip from Riekie: create a yuzu croquembouche. Puffs filled with yuzucurd (and possibly some cream), dipped in chocolate and topped with yuzukonfiche. Stack the puffs into a festive tower, and you're ready to impress!
Additional Japanese touch? Add yuzucurd and/or confit to your mochi dishes!