I went by the local Japanese grocery store (yup, we've got those) to pick up some yuzu juice. As a recipe creator, I'm always intrigued to try different foods, or in this case, fruit.
About the size of a tangerine, yuzu is an incredibly fragrant Asian citrus fruit. It's also super sour and tart, so don't sink your teeth into one! The zest and juice are used for flavoring in recipes in the same manner as lemon or lime.
If your hearing "exotic ingredient" between the lines, you'd be right. If you're also hearing "arm-and-a-leg-pricing-because-it's-exotic', well, right again. The Japanese store $9 bottle was $20 from the big A (Amazon).
The manufacturer's label is completely in Japanese. Selling it hear, or at least in California, requires that an additional label be attached with nutritional info & other particulars in English, like noting it's 100% citrus juice.
And that's where the quirk showed up. Included in this additional label is a California carcinogen warning. That warning also has a web site to, in theory, understand why.
I dutifully went to the California web site. Nope, nothing about yuzu. The manufacturer info is all in Japanese, the English mini-label from the trading company that gets it here provides no additional information.
It's in a glass bottle, so the only item to question is the plastic pour cap. Could be, but I'd be surprised.
So: will I still use it?
Yeah, I will. My research did not turn up any connection.
Oh, and lastly, what am I doing with it? I had a guacamole made with it instead of lemon or lime, so I'll start there, but I'll mess with some seafoods as well.
until next time...
