Kosho Is the Citrus Umami Bomb You’ll Want to Wear on Everything

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Yuzu kosho is like sunshine on your tongue. A fermented yuzu, chili and salt paste gives umami a hint of brightness that can only come from fresh citrus fruits. A few gourmet friends and I noticed this in soy sauce at dinner in New York. It was a completely new and unique taste that none of us had ever experienced before. We tried to determine what it was and when we dove into the fried fish later in the night realized it was seasoned with the same flavor bomb. The waiter smiled, “It’s kosho,” he explained, obviously used to it. Thus began my obsession.

You can buy yuzu kosho , but I myself tend to ferment, so I wanted to understand kosho and understand it deeply. Fresh yuzu is incredibly expensive and hard to find in the United States, but this is what you get when you cross a lemon, lime, and orange. There is a hardy yuzu bred for the US and I have already reserved one so hopefully they will become more available in the future.

Until then, we’ll have to make do with the process of making koche and apply it to other fruits and vegetables.

Citrus coche

If there are citrus fruits in my house, I peel the zest from them and add it to my kosho. You can buy a bunch of citrus fruits to start with, or do what I do and go to a place with an abundance of citrus fruits. During the winter, I spent two days in Arizona squeezing citrus juices like crazy with friends, insisting on sipping every grapefruit, orange, or lemon that came across my kitchen. All that zest has been turned into a gorgeously colored kosho in a half-gallon can, which is an obsession for everyone who visits. You can easily make your own in any scale.

Ingredients:

  • Citrus zest (use any citrus you want, but the mixture works best in my opinion).
  • 15% non-iodized salt by weight
  • Hot pepper to taste

Take all the zest that you can reach and weigh it. Count to calculate 15% citrus weight and add that amount of salt to the food processor. Pulse them together in quick pulses for eight seconds or so. Put it in a bowl and set it aside.

Now you will add pepper, but as much as you like. If you want a very spicy kosho, I recommend jalapeno or Thai chili, but remember that a little goes a long way. Personally, since I only like a light lick of fire in my pasta, I add 5% by weight of the whole pasta, including salt. I cut the pepper in half, remove the seeds, add it to a food processor and grind again until the pepper is blended. Add pepper little by little, one at a time. In the process of fermentation, they will soften, but not by much. You don’t even need to add pepper if you prefer, you can just use citrus, but I wouldn’t want you to ruin a batch by seasoning it with too much spice.

Now take the mixture and place it in a water seal jar. Use a spatula to really tamp it down, eliminating any pockets of air. Tap the jar on the table a few times, this will help. Clean the lip, then put on the gateway. If you don’t have a water seal, just open the lid every few days to let the carbon dioxide out.

Over the next few months, the koshō will turn into an umami citrus bomb. You can use it in many different ways. My favorite way is to mix a teaspoon of olive oil, rub it on a head of cauliflower, and then toast the cauliflower. Adding it to your soy sauce is an easy win, and many restaurants use it as a replacement for the Maldon they would otherwise sprinkle on a dish. Add it to fried rice or ramen. Rub it into the steak before frying. It has an endless number of uses and once you try it you will find yourself using it all the time.

Obtain Kosho crafting equipment:

Kosho garlic sprout

I had already gotten into koshō when one of my fermentation guides, Jori Jane Emde , wrote about green garlic koshō. I do it with scapes. I know that in theory everyone likes scapes, but in practice they are difficult to work with because they are very strong and tough. As a gardener, I collect tons of shoots every year and never know what to do with them. They also flood farmers’ markets.

Her recipe was very simple: weigh your sprouts, add 20% salt by weight, beat them up, toss them in a jar and just let them mature under a water seal. After about six months, koshō became my favorite thing in my kitchen.

I use it in salad dressings and as a rub on meats, especially whole chickens, before frying them. I especially like it with cassoulet beans, and adding a small amount to a beaten egg is a piece of heaven.

Kosho, in addition to being incredibly delicious, is also a great way to avoid food waste. You take things you wouldn’t otherwise use (cuttings, raisins, etc.) and turn them into something great. Even if all you ever do is add it to soy sauce, making kosho is worth it.

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