Cold-Brewed Ponzu Sauce with Bonito and Fresh Citrus

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Real ponzu is not soy sauce with lemon in it — it's a cold-steeped dashi base of kombu and bonito flakes married to soy, mirin and rice vinegar, then finished off-heat with fresh citrus so the top notes stay bright and floral. This version steeps overnight in the fridge (no boiling, so nothing turns bitter or fishy) and gives you two cups of clear, savoury-tart dipping sauce for sashimi, dumplings, chilled tofu, grilled fish, shabu-shabu or a spoonful over avocado. It keeps a month and makes almost anything taste like it came out of a good izakaya kitchen.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi, such as Kikkoman or Yamasa)
• 1/4 cup mirin
• 1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1 piece dried kombu, about 4 x 5 inches (8 g)
• 1 cup loosely packed katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes, about 15 g)
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar (optional, to soften the edge)

• 1/3 cup bottled yuzu juice, or 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice plus 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons fresh orange or mandarin juice
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon or yuzu zest

Instructions

1. Wipe the kombu with a barely damp paper towel to remove grit, but do not rinse away the white powdery bloom on the surface — that is glutamate, and it is where the savoury depth comes from. Snip the sheet into 3 or 4 pieces with scissors so it fits your jar.
2. Pour the mirin into a small saucepan and bring to a bare simmer over medium heat, about 60 to 90 seconds, then remove from the heat and let it cool completely, 5 minutes. This burns off the raw alcohol bite without cooking anything else. If using sugar, stir it into the hot mirin until dissolved.
3. Combine the soy sauce, cooled mirin, rice vinegar and kombu in a 1-quart glass jar or lidded container. Add the katsuobushi and press it down gently with a spoon so it submerges; it will float at first and settle within an hour.
4. Seal and refrigerate for 24 hours (12 hours minimum, 48 hours maximum). Do not heat, stir or agitate it — cold steeping keeps the dashi clean and prevents the sour, fishy notes that come from boiling bonito.
5. Set a fine-mesh strainer lined with a coffee filter or a double layer of cheesecloth over a bowl. Pour the mixture through and let it drain 10 to 15 minutes without pressing or squeezing the solids, which would push through cloudy sediment. Discard the kombu and bonito, or save them to simmer into a quick furikake.
6. Stir the yuzu juice (or the lemon-lime blend), orange juice and citrus zest into the strained base. Adding the citrus cold and last is the whole point: the aromatic oils stay lively instead of cooking off.
7. Taste on a small piece of cucumber or a spoon of rice rather than straight, which reads harsh. If it feels sharp, add 1 to 2 teaspoons more soy sauce; if it feels flat and salty, add citrus juice 1 teaspoon at a time.
8. Transfer to a clean bottle or jar and refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving so the flavours knit together. The ponzu keeps up to 1 month refrigerated; the citrus mellows and the dashi comes forward over the first week.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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