Yuzu Sherbet (柚子シャーベット, Yuzu Shābetto)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Microplane or fine oroshigane grater
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Shallow metal tray, or an ice cream maker
• •Fork for scraping

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the syrup

   Combine the sugar, water, and salt in a small saucepan. Warm over medium heat just until the sugar dissolves, stirring once or twice. Don't boil it hard. You only need a clear syrup, and boiling away water would make the finished sherbet too sweet and dense.

   The salt should not announce itself. It sharpens the citrus and keeps the sweetness from feeling flat.
2. 2

   Cool completely

   Pour the syrup into a bowl and let it cool to room temperature, then chill it until cold. Add yuzu juice to hot syrup and the fragrance dulls. Yuzu's aroma is quick to leave, so we protect it by mixing cold with cold.

3. 3

   Add the yuzu

   Stir the strained yuzu juice into the cold syrup. Add the zest only if the fruit is fresh, clean, and unwaxed, because the peel carries both the perfume and any bitterness. Taste it now. It should be brighter and sweeter than you want the final sherbet, because freezing mutes both sweetness and acidity.

4. 4

   Freeze and stir

   Pour the mixture into a shallow metal tray and freeze for 45 minutes. Scrape and stir the icy edges into the center with a fork, then return it to the freezer. Repeat every 30 minutes, three or four times, until the crystals are fine and the mixture holds softly together. Stirring breaks large ice sheets before they become stubborn.

5. 5

   Set and serve

   Cover and freeze until firm, about 2 more hours. Before serving, let the sherbet sit at room temperature for 5 minutes, just long enough for a spoon to pass through cleanly. Scoop small portions into chilled bowls and finish with one thin strip of yuzu peel if you like.

Chef Tips

• •Use fresh yuzu when you can, especially from late autumn through winter. Bottled yuzu juice is a sensible stand-in for acidity, but it won't carry the same high fragrance as fruit cut that day.
• •If your yuzu are scarce, zest them before juicing. The peel is where much of the aroma lives, and scraping a squeezed half is a small misery best avoided.
• •A shallow metal tray freezes the mixture quickly and gives smaller crystals. A deep container freezes slowly, and slow freezing makes coarse ice.
• •For an ice cream maker, churn the chilled mixture until softly frozen, then pack it into a container and freeze until firm. The machine only does the stirring for you. The balance of juice, sugar, and water stays the same.

Advance Preparation

• •The yuzu juice can be squeezed and strained one day ahead, then kept refrigerated in a covered glass jar.
• •The syrup can be made two days ahead and chilled.
• •Finished sherbet keeps well for one week in the freezer. Press parchment directly on the surface before covering so it does not pick up freezer odors.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 115g)