Condiments and seasonings are very helpful for making everyday’s OBENTO.
Even though I only have one kind of meats in the fridge, I could make various types of OBENTO by the help of condiments.
Starting from Shoyu (soy sauce) Miso, Rice Vinegar, Shio Koji, sometimes going to Chinese flavor, such as Chinese five spices or oyster sauce, I can expand the possibility to entertain my husband.
Today I used one of my favorite traditional condiments, YUZU KOSHO.
I think many of you know what YUZU is.
YUZU is recently recognized by many chefs as a citrus which has a distinguished flavor.
Many Japanese people love this unique flavor.
However I can’t find YUZU here, so instead I use YUZU KOSHO to get YUZU flavor.
YUZU KOSHO is normally sold in a glass jar or in a tube like this.
KOSHO usually means ” black or white pepper” in Japanese、but YUZU KOSHO doesn’t contain any black or white pepper.
It is a paste made from chili pepper, yuzu peel and salt, which is then allowed to ferment.
It is usually used as a condiment for hot pot dishes in winter, or some people put this in miso soup.
It is also delicious with sashimi.
Just a little bit of YUZU KOSHO works good (be careful! It is very salty!), so I put a little inside the chicken I used for OBENTO today.
I put YUZU KOSHO on the chicken thigh, and then put some veggies such as green onion and orange color pepper.
Rolled it and sautéed and steamed it with Sake to make sure the heat went though the chickens.
If you could find YUZU KOSHO in any Asian grocery stores, just try it.
If you like YUZU flavor, I believe you love it!
In this chicken recipe, you could put MISO paste instead of YUZU KOSHO.
I think that would be also delicious!
Japanese Kitchen in the USA 