Best Authentic Ponzu Sauce

This recipe is the culmination of years of experimentation and some incredible help from a world-class ponzu maker in Osaka, Japan. Good ingredients are fundamental to good ponzu, but there are lots of tips on how to make the best with what you've got.

Note that the metric version of the recipe below is much easier to scale up and measure, assuming you have the appropriate tools.

Course Sauce/Marinade

Cuisine Japanese

Keyword how to make ponzu, japanese citrus dipping sauce

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 5

Resting Time 2

Total Time 2 25

Servings ml

Calories 21kcal

Ingredients

Dashi Base (Day 1)

1/2 cup shoyu (Japanese soy sauce) preferably marudaizu (see note)
1 piece kombu approximately 5x15 cm (2x6 inches)
3-4 dried shiitake mushrooms
1-2 yuzu rinds including seeds (see note)
0.35 oz katsuobushi (~1/2 cup, loosely packed)
5 tsp sake
5 tsp mirin

Ponzu Components (Day 2)

5 tsp sake
5 tsp mirin
5 tbsp rice vinegar (komezu)
4 tsp sugar
7 tbsp yuzu juice (see note)
3.5 tbsp tamari

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Day 1

Juice the yuzu (or other citrus - see note). Refrigerate the juice and keep the rinds/seeds for the next step.
Combine all the dashi base ingredients in a pot that's large enough to hold everything, but still small enough to allow the liquid to submerge most of the solids. Cover, and let stand for 24 hours.

Day 2

Combine the sake, mirin, and rice vinegar in a small pot, then stir in the sugar. Place on the stovetop and bring to a gentle boil for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
Add the Day 1 ingredients to the pot and continue to heat gently, bringing the mixture to a very gentle simmer for about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
Add the yuzu juice and tamari to the mixture. Mix gently, cover, and let stand overnight.

Day 3 - Finishing

Pour the finished ponzu through a fine sieve or strainer to remove all of the solids. Squeeze as much liquid out of the mushrooms as possible. Discard the solids (see note), and skim off any foam or small bits that make it through the strainer.
Adjust to taste, if necessary, with tamari, sugar, and/or komezu (rice vinegar).
Bottle and refrigerate for up to a month.

Notes

Soy Sauce - Marudaizu shoyu is a class of Japanese soy sauce made with whole (i.e. not defatted) soy beans, using traditional fermentation methods. It tends to be a little more expensive, but is absolutely worth using for a recipe like this. If you can't get marudaizu shoyu, try to find a good quality traditionally brewed soy sauce.

Yuzu note - Yuzu can be very difficult to find. If you don't have access to whole yuzu, I suggest using bottled yuzu juice (look for one that's only yuzu juice - no sugar or salt added) and lemon rind. Other options are detailed in the Recipe Notes section of the writeup above.

Leftover Solids - The leftovers from making ponzu can be used in a variety of ways. The shiitakes mushrooms are good in soups, and the katsuobushi and kombu can be used to make furikake (recipe coming soon). They can also be steeped again in warm water to make a mild ponzu soup base.

Two Day Shortcut - If you're low on time, you heat the Day 1 ingredients on the stove top until they reach a low simmer (not a boil), then turn off the heat, cover the pot, and let the mixture stand for an hour or two (longer is better). From here, you can proceed to the Day 2 steps.

Nutrition