Ponzu Sauce and Peanut Dipping Sauce

Ponzu Sauce

Ponzu sauce is a tasty condiment, useful on rice or with gyoza. Here's a ponzu sauce recipe I pieced together from some other recipes. Ponzu sauce is traditionally made with yuzu, but you can substitute other kinds of citrus. I used half a grapefruit, one orange, two lemons and a lime. Make sure to get organic citrus for the zesting. I couldn't find an organic grapefruit so I zested an extra orange instead. You'll find the mirin, rice vinegar, kombu, and bonito at your local Japanese grocery.

1 1/2 cups citrus juice
zest of citrus (zest it before you juice it)
1 1/2 cups soy sauce
3/4 cup mirin (sweet rice wine for cooking)
4 teaspoons sugar
4 teaspoons rice vinegar
3x4 inch piece of kombu seaweed
2 cups bonito flakes

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Make sure to stir in the seaweed and fish flakes so they are soaking in the liquid. Cover the bowl and stick it in the fridge for at least a day. Then strain out the solids. A food mill works great for this. It makes about a quart, plus a little extra to enjoy as you jar it up.


Peanut Dipping Sauce or Salad Dressing

Bonus recipe, using the ponzu sauce made above.

ponzu sauce
peanut butter
toasted sesame oil
chili paste (sambal oelek)
ginger, garlic, sugar, etc

Mix ponzu sauce and peanut butter about 1:1. If you want it thicker, add more peanut butter, and vice versa. I used unsalted unsweetend creamy peanut butter. (Just ground-up peanuts.) Mix in about a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil per cup of sauce. For more complex flavor, experiment with fresh or powdered garlic or ginger, a dash of sugar, or anything else. Add some chili paste, until it's 80% as spicy as you want it. Refrigerate it overnight, and it will become spicier.