Yuzu Sorbet Recipe
by Nicola Lando
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75 minutes prep time
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20 minutes cook time
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Intermediate
This yuzu sorbet recipe is one I reach for every summer. I make this for after heavy barbecues when we all need something light and sharp to cleanse the palate.
Yuzu has complex sweet-sour-floral notes that are different from regular citrus - and cuts right through any rich menu. Perfect when you want dessert but nothing too heavy.
What is yuzu?
The yuzu is the seville orange of the Far East. Only available in Winter, the fruit is mostly pith and pips, the taste sharp - and yet incredibly aromatic. Yuzus were first grown in China, and then travelled to Japan and Korea, where it is know as 'yuza'.
We have not yet managed to find the fruit in Europe, though yuzu juice does travel extremely well.
What is yuzu juice?
Yuzu juice is highly favoured in Japanese cuisine for the contrasting intense floral aroma and sour-lime flavour. Because yuzu juice is a luxury and more expensive than other citrus juices, it is often used together with lemon or lime juice - as in the recipe below.
Yuzu brings the lightly floral aroma, and the other citrus fruits bring the classic sharp tang.
Ingredients for the yuzu and lime sorbet Serves: 6
- 250ml water
- 150g caster sugar
- 10g corn syrup or glucose
- 2.5g ice cream or sorbet stabiliser
- 40g yuzu juice
- Juice of 1/2 lime
Ingredients for the crystallised lime peel
- 1 lime
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp water
Method to make the yuzu and lime sorbet
- Measure the cold water in a pan with the glucose, and separately mix together the sugar and the stabilizer.
- Pour the sugar/stabiliser mixture, stir and leave to hydrate for 15 minutes.
- Bring the mixture to the boil, stirring constantly with a hand whisk.
- Remove from the heat, pour in the yuzu and lime juices.
- Transfer to a plastic bowl, cover with clingfilm and allow to cool.
- Once cool transfer to an ice cream maker and churn for 45 minutes until frozen.
- Alternatively, pour the mixture into a strong plastic container and put in the freezer. After 1 hour 30 minutes it should have frozen round the edges. Take it out and beat vigorously with a fork, electric whisk or in a food processor until you have a uniformly textured mixture. Return it to the freezer and repeat at least twice more every 1 hour 30 minutes, then freeze for at least another hour.
Method to make the crystallised lime peel
- Use a sharp knife to cut the peel away from the rind. Slice into small squares, around 1cm by 1cm.
- Prepare a bowl of water filled with ice and cold water.
- Blanch the peel in a pan by pouring boiling water over it. Boil for 1 minute.
- Use a slotted spoon or small sieve to transfer the peel to the ice bath.
- Repeat 2 more times.
- Mix 1tbsp caster sugar and 2 tbsp water in a separate pan. Bring to the boil to create a simple syrup.
- Cook the peel in the syrup for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Once cool, roll the pieces of lime in the granulated sugar.
About the author
Nicola Lando is the co-founder and CEO of Sous Chef, where she has spent more than a decade sourcing, tasting and selecting specialist ingredients, cookware and tableware from producers around the world.
She trained at Leiths and later completed a stage at a Michelin-starred London restaurant, experiences that helped shape Sous Chef’s original mission: to give home cooks access to the same exceptional ingredients used by professional chefs.
Today, Nicola leads much of Sous Chef’s product sourcing and ingredient selection, working directly with producers and travelling internationally to food fairs, farms, mills and manufacturers. She tastes thousands of products each year and has built deep expertise across storecupboard ingredients, olive oil, condiments, spices, preserved foods and specialist cooking ingredients.
She holds an olive oil sommelier certification from ESAO in Spain, Imperial Executive Education’s Certificate in Nutrition for Health: Evidence-Based Tools and Strategies certificate; as well as studying Food Safety and Control at University of Greenwich.
Nicola also writes recipes and ingredient guides for Sous Chef, combining practical cooking experience with first-hand knowledge from producers, suppliers and specialist food makers. Her work focuses on helping cooks understand how to choose better ingredients, use them well, and get more flavour from their cooking.
