It smells like spring outside. Fragrant ume blossoms brighten the once bare branches of the plum trees. The bright pink and white flowers are a welcome bright contrast to the black bark. Their scent is so intoxicating and wonderful. I remember this time last year. We had spent a weekend out walking around enjoying the late February blossoms, having no idea that in a few days we would experience 3.11. In hindsight, I’m glad such a beautiful memory was made before such a sad one. The stark contrast of the two experiences reminds me of how quickly life changes. And how holding on to the memories of happy moments helps us cope when life seems grim.

The plum blossoms are blooming now in Tokyo, but there is still a bit of winter chill in the air. I’m still craving soups and warm drinks to keep me warm, but I’m looking for ways to add a little spring into my recipes. You may remember last week when I posted a recipe for ginger honey. Today’s recipe uses that honey to make a delicious, comforting mug of warm milk. There is a restaurant that we go to with Callie the dog (yes, they allow dogs inside the restaurant) and I almost always order this drink. It is called Ginger Honey Milk Tea…or something similar…and it is divine. The spicy ginger adds a welcome brightness to the honey and the creamy milk. There is nothing like it coupled with their house made crumpets.

I decided to add a little extra flavor with what will probably be the last yuzu of the season by adding the zest to the milk. You could just as easily use lemon or orange instead. There is no real “recipe” to post, but here’s the basic idea: simply put milk in a saucepan with the citrus zest and heat until steaming (don’t boil!) and add the honey. You can add extra raw ginger with the citrus zest for an extra kick, which I really like. Just pour the milk through a strainer into a mug, breath deeply, and enjoy. At the end of a long day, after Riley has gone to sleep, this ginger honey milk tea with yuzu is the perfect way to wind down. I just know you’ll love it.

These days, my happy memories are being filled with the little smiling face below. Babies have the amazing ability to show us pure joy in moments like these.

I’m sorry it has taken me so long to put up a new post. After all the cars, trains and planes that carried us through Tokyo, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Denver, Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit and finally Tokyo again (in that order), I needed a few days to clear my head. Rather than going into all the details, I’ll just say this: there was a lot of laughter, hugs, food, wine, and SNOW!

It was great to spend time with both my family and my husband’s. We had a truly blessed Christmas season. So much so that my waistline was screaming for me to leave it alone for a few days! Yeah, I ate myself into oblivion and was in desperate need of some detoxification. I did a pretty good job eating light for the first 5 days after returning to Japan. No dairy, no sugar, limited caffeine and no alcohol. I feel back to the way things were before all the abuse to my system. Now, I’m working on overhauling my daily diet so things can continue to go in the right direction (down), giving me a healthy start to the new year. And it would be great if my swimsuit didn’t hate me when spring break comes around…just sayin’.

I’m not using the dreaded “R” word here. Resolutions usually mean “will fail miserably in only 2 days”. Instead, I am simply making a decision to be different. I will indulge when it is appropriate and only then. I will have control over food and make good, healthy, sustainable choices without completely depriving myself. I will cook cleaner meals. And I will be happy with myself. That’s all there is to it.

Am I getting myself into a deep hole? I hope not.

It may seem strange to pair a cocktail with a post like this one. I recognize that. I thought it would be a symbolic gesture- one last cocktail for a little while so I can get things under control. I will not be abandoning my blog style, including the cocktail side of things, just balancing them out a bit more.

To toast my new venture, here is a delicious variation of the Sidecar made with the syrupy leftovers of some candied kumquats and yuzu I made, along with a little fresh orange juice. The intense citrus flavor is beautiful and welcome in these darker winter days. Kumquats and yuzu are classic winter citrus fruits found in Tokyo around this time of year. Yuzu season is coming to a close, but not before the tiny orange kumquats begin to dot various trees, making winter seem a little more cheerful.

I would love to hear how you’re changing your eating habits after a season of overindulgence! I’m always up for suggestions and brilliant ideas!

Cheers!

Winter Citrus Sidecar

Makes 2 drinks

3 oz. whiskey (I used Japanese whiskey, but Stranahan’s or Macallan are good choices too)

2 oz. fresh squeezed orange or clementine juice

2 oz. kumquat/yuzu syrup (click here to make your own kumquat simple syrup, or use the leftovers from homemade candied citrus if you have it)

Super fine sugar for rimming the glass

1. Use a lemon wedge to moisten the rims of two cocktail glasses. Carefully dip them in the sugar.

2. Combine all the ingredients except the sugar in a shaker filled with ice. Shake for about 30 seconds or until you see a little frost on the metal shaker.

3. Pour into the cocktail glasses and serve.

Well, we have traveled from Tokyo to Seattle to Salt Lake City and finally to Denver, Colorado where we will be spending Christmas with my husband’s family. The jet lag has subsided (mostly) and we have been frantically shopping, wrapping, and soaking in our short time together. All is going as expected, aside from the fact that Denver is not the winter wonderland we were hoping for. Apparently all the snow is stuck elsewhere. Bummer. It’s funny because the mountains are within view and everyday we have seen the low clouds that are dumping huge amounts of the white stuff just 20 minutes away. It’s so close I can practically feel the sweet snow flakes melting on my tongue. I guess we’ll have to wait until we travel to Minnesota to experience the bright white beauty of winter. Still, the Christmas spirit has managed to wrap us in its warmth and wonder, just like it did last year.

While we pray for snow, we are sipping away on mulled wine. I made a recipe for mulled wine with Japanese citrus (yuzu and mikan) when we were still in Tokyo. The flavors are deep from the spices, bright from the citrus, and warming from the heat. And the recipe will be appearing in the Daily Yomiuri newspaper  on Christmas Eve! If you can’t find yuzu or mikan, substitute them with 1 lemon and 1 clementine. You’ll get a very similar effect.

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you are enjoying the holidays no matter where in world you find yourself. Cheers!

Mulled Wine with Japanese Citrus

Serves 4-6

1 (750 mL) bottle red wine, like a fruity Cabernet Sauvignon or a peppery Zinfandel
¼ cup Japanese Whiskey or Brandy
6 whole cloves (or 1 teaspoon ground cloves)
4 black peppercorns (or ½ teaspoon ground black pepper)
3 cinnamon sticks (or 2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon), plus extra for garnish
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled
2 fresh yuzu, peeled and juiced (peel and juice reserved, seeds discarded)
1 mikan, peeled and juiced (peel and juice reserved, seeds discarded)
⅓ cup honey, plus extra to taste
*Note: If you use ground spiced, seal them in a coffee filter so the grounds don’t float around in the wine.

Begin by wrapping the cinnamon, peppercorns, cloves, ginger, and citrus peels in cheesecloth or a coffee filter. Tie the satchel closed and place in a large pot. Add the wine, whiskey, citrus juices and honey. Place the pot over medium-low heat for about 30 minutes. Do not let the mixture boil! (If it boils, the flavor of the wine will change too drastically.) Keep an eye on the mulled wine as it cooks, stirring often to ensure the honey dissolves completely. Watch for steam to start rising off of the wine to signal that it is ready to serve. *Tip: To keep the mulled wine warm longer, pour hot water into the glasses you are going to use to serve the wine. Just before adding the mulled wine, pour out the water and add the wine.

A few months ago, hubs and I made Yuzucello. Surprisingly, there is still plenty left and I have been finding some great ways to use it up. We had a dinner party the other night and I made a yuzu & lemon semifreddo. It was so creamy and delicious… I am planning to make it again this weekend since there isn’t any left for picture-taking-blogging purposes. I also created this tart, refreshing, and slightly sweet Yuzu Tonic for Cocktail Friday.

Afternoon sun in our jungle-of-a-backyard as seen from the patio

Spring in Tokyo begins subtly. The weather becomes warmer, trees explode with brand new bright green leaves, and everyone seems to be drinking in the bright sunshine and blue skies. The air is fresh and clean and the blanket of clouds that covers the city for much of the winter is taken away for a few blissful weeks. The result of this cleaner, fresher weather is the presence of cool, clean cocktails.

In Minnesota, I love to drink gin & tonics (my dad makes ‘em the best) while sitting on the deck at my parent’s house, enjoying the smell of the charcoal grill and watching the sun sink slowly over the spacious back yard. This Yuzu Tonic is the perfect way to bring that feeling back to my Tokyo apartment with a little Asian twist.

Since Yuzu liquor may be difficult to find for many of you in the United States, you can certainly use limoncello as a delicious substitute. The piney flavor of the gin keeps the cocktail from being too sugar laden and the tonic water adds the fun sensation of bubbles. I garnished this drink with a sprig of lemon-thyme, which helps to enhance the herbal flavors in the gin as well as the citrus flavor of the yuzucello.

So, now I leave you to sit outside and let a little condensation build up on the outside of your cold cocktail glass as you sip away! Happy Friday!

Yuzu Tonic
Makes 1 drink

1 oz. gin
2 oz. Yuzucello OR Limoncello
4 oz. tonic water
ice
lime wedge
sprig of lemon-thyme (optional)

Pour the gin and yuzucello/limoncello over ice in the bottom of a highball glass or other favorite cocktail vessel. Stir gently with a stir stick. Top with the tonic water and garnish with the lime wedge and thyme sprig.

This week marks the 1 year anniversary of Tokyo Terrace. There are so many things to say and people to thank. Let me start by saying: Otanjou-bi Omedetou Gozaimasu! Bon annivarsaire! Happy Birthday!

I woke up this morning to a soft, white coating of fresh snow over all of the roof tops outside my kitchen window. Within about 2 hours, the snow was completely melted and the sun was shining warmly. It’s fitting, actually, that such a drastic change in the weather happened in such a short amount of time today. The schizophrenic weather is similar to the last year of my life here in Tokyo. So many wonderful things have happened, with the occasional sprinkling of difficult times to keep me humble. all the while are moments when I sit down and think about what a huge blessing it is to be able to write about and share my stories with all of you. I say share my “stories” rather than my recipes because they are really one in the same.

Tokyo Terrace has not only been a way for me to express my love for food, but also  way for me to make sense of living in Japan. My time spent in Tokyo has been nothing short of amazing. However, I still find myself frustrated, homesick, and unsure about how to understand how to fit in. Tokyo Terrace has been my way of both staying sane and celebrating the experience of living in a culture so drastically different from my own.

This recipe is a fusion-inspired Rice Pudding. The addition of yuzu zest, sake and black sesame seeds to the traditional milk, vanilla and rice creates a light tasting, comforting dessert that is easy to make. Taking a classic dessert like Rice Pudding and adding a Japanese spin on it is symbolic of the last year of my life as Tokyo Terrace. I have not lost my love for traditional, familiar comfort foods that I knew before coming to Japan, but I have learned how to incorporate new ingredients to make these dishes more unique.

I look forward to another wonderful year spent with you, my dear readers and fellow food blogging friends. Thank you, wherever you find yourself as you read this, for being such a wonderful piece of my experience abroad. I hope that Tokyo Terrace has meant something to you the way it has to me.

Rice Pudding with Yuzu, Vanilla and Sake

Makes 2 servings

1/3 cup short grained or medium grained rice

2 1/2 cups whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

zest from 1 yuzu (or lemon if you can’t access yuzu)

2 tablespoons sake

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon black sesame seeds

candied yuzu or lemon peel

In a medium skillet, combine the rice and milk over medium heat. Cook for 25-30 minutes, stirring constantly until the rice has absorbed about 1/3 of the milk and has become tender. Add the vanilla extract, sake, yuzu zest and honey. Stir to combine and cook another 10-12 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool in the refrigerator for about 2 hours and up to 1 day. Serve sprinkled with the black sesame seeds and the candied yuzu peel.

I’m going to be really honest with you all right now. I’m just not a football fan. In high school, I went to the games so that I could see my friends and ogle the unattainable guys that I had crushes on. It’s what high school girls do, right? In college, when I met Brad, he tried making me a Denver Broncos fan by watching a game one Sunday afternoon. No more than 15 minutes into the game I was out cold. Best 3 hour nap of my life.

While football is not my favorite thing in the world, the food associated with the Super Bowl is enough to get me excited about a sport that bores me to tears. We can’t really watch the Super Bowl this year, which doesn’t make too much of a difference to me. But we can enjoy the food. So, for all of you crazy football fans out there, here is an Asian-themed Super Bowl Party menu from the kitchen of Tokyo Terrace! The great part about this menu is that if you are currently living in Japan, all of the ingredients are readily available and there is no need for an oven. Each recipe is made using a simple 2-burner stove! Nice, yes?

Spicy Whiskey-Soy Glazed Chicken Wings

The flavorful, sticky glaze on these finger-licking delicious wings is made with a simple combination of Japanese whiskey (though you can use any type of whiskey), soy sauce, chili oil and honey.  It all makes for a delightful change to a classic Super Bowl dish. The nutty crunch of the black sesame seeds help to add flavor and visual appeal while the mint balances the rich, salty flavors with its bright, effervescent accent. Personally, I love the bright green leaves of the mint along with the simple black sesame seeds. You can use white sesame seeds as well if you can’t find black.  The black ones are just a little sexier.

Teriyaki Meatballs

These meatballs are a variation of the Japanese Teriyaki Baaga (Soy-glazed Burger). Unlike the typical American hamburger, the Japanese version is made very much like meatloaf with panko bread crumbs, egg, dark miso paste, and a rich soy glaze. Rather than making the traditional full-size patties, I turned them into bite-size meatballs served with toothpicks for easy grazing during the game.

Fried Guacamole Wontons

Truly, this is an off-the-hook appetizer. A true fusion dish, the creamy guacamole makes a very natural pairing with crispy wonton wrappers. It’s like having your chip dipped in advance! These are addicting and easy to snack on, even without taking your eyes off of the TV!

Yuzu Mojito

If you have read Tokyo Terrace before, you know that a party is not complete without a great cocktail. Since this is an Asian-themed menu, I went with a simple and very flavorful mojito using the Japanese yuzu. I’m obsessed with this citrus and the season is coming to a close so I jumped at the chance to use it one last time. If you can’t find yuzu, the combination of grapefruit, orange, and lemon creates a comparable flavor and will work beautifully in this cocktail. And even though my home state of Minnesota did not see their Vikings make it to the Super Bowl this year (even after the whole Favre thing and a crazy last game) I am honoring them by using Prairie Vodka. Prairie Vodka is made in the great state of Minnesota and it has a wonderfully clean flavor that is great for mixing drinks! I am already half-way through my bottle and it’s the only one I have. Wish they would start exporting to Japan!

Add some Japanese beers like Asahi or Kirin and you are all set for a great Super Bowl Party! Even without the actual football game…

And now for the recipes:

Spicy Whiskey-Soy Glazed Chicken Wings

Serves 6

24 chicken wings or drummies

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup Japanese whiskey (or whatever you can find)

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon Sriracha

1/3 cup toasted black or white sesame seeds

1/3 cup loosely packed mint leaves

In a small bowl, mix the whiskey, honey, soy sauce, and Sriracha together. Set aside. Rinse the chicken with water and pat dry with paper towels and place on a baking sheet or large plate. The chicken must be completely dry or it will not brown properly.

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a skillet large enough for the chicken to fit in one layer. Alternatively, you can work in two batches to cook the chicken. When the oil is hot, add the chicken wings and brown well on one side. Flip the chicken and brown the opposite side for about 1 minute then carefully add the whiskey-soy mixture. Next, add the water and  immediately cover the skillet, reduce the heat to low, and allow the chicken to cook for about 15 minutes. Remove the lid and increase the heat to high, stirring to coat the chicken with the whiskey-soy glaze. The glaze will reduce rather quickly, so be sure to stir and adjust heat as needed.

Add the sesame seeds and toss to coat. Transfer the wings to a serving platter and cover with any extra sauce left in the pan. Garnish with the mint leaves and serve.

Teriyaki Meatballs

Serves 6

2 pounds ground beef

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 Tablespoon dark miso paste

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 Tablespoons whiskey, sake or plum wine (I’ve used each at different times and I like whiskey the best)

1 tablespoon hot water

1 tablespoon honey

3 teaspoons soy sauce

In a medium bowl, combine the ground beef, panko, egg, miso paste and onions. Use your hands to combine well. Roll into about 24 meatballs about 1 inch to 1 1/2 inches in size.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the meatballs and allow to brown for 2 to 3 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the water, honey, soy sauce and whiskey in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside. Turn the meatballs and brown until all sides are cooked.

Add the liquid to the pan and reduce the heat slightly. Cook for 2-3 minutes then increase the heat, allowing the liquid to reduce. Coat the meatballs with the sauce. Transfer to a platter and insert toothpicks into each meatball before serving.

Fried Guacamole Wontons

Serves 6

For the Guacamole:

2 avocadoes, diced

12 cherry tomatoes, diced

1/2 teaspoon onion powder and garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon cardamom powder

juice from 1/2 a lime

For the wontons:

1 1/2 cups guacamole

24 wonton wrappers

vegetable oil for frying

Combine the avocado, spices and lime juice in a bowl. Gently stir in the tomatoes. Season with salt.

On a work surface, lay the wonton wrappers out 6 at a time. Leave the rest covered well so they do not dry out. In the center of each wrapper, place a small scoop of guacamole. Use your finger to line the edges of the wrapper with water and fold into a triangle. Transfer the filled wontons to a plate and cover with saran wrap until ready to fry. Do not leave them under the saran wrap for more than 15 minutes or so as they may dry out and will not turn out well.

In a heavy sauce pan, fill with oil until it reaches about 1 1/2 inches deep. Heat over medium-high heat. Text by carefully placing the corner of a wonton in the oil. If it begins to bubble it is ready. Carefully place the wontons in the oil 3 or 4 at a time. If your skillet is big enough to hold more without crowding, you can add more. Allow the wontons to fry for about 30 seconds, flip, then another 30 seconds. The wontons should be a light golden brown and will be crispy. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels.

When all the wontons are finished, transfer to a serving platter garnished with lime wedges and cherry tomatoes.

Yuzu Mojito

Serves 1

Zest from 1/2 a yuzu (or 1 tablespoon total zest from a grapefruit, lemon and orange)

mint leaves

cane sugar or regular sugar

3 oz. Prairie Vodka or white rum

Soda or Tonic water

In the bottom of a glass, muddle the zest with the mint leaves and vodka or rum. Add ice and fill the glass with tonic water. Serve!

Note: If you don’t like the zest floating in your drink, you can muddle the zest and alcohol in a separate glass, then strain it through a fine strainer into your serving glass. Muddle it with the mint at this point.

Remember a really long time ago when I put up a post about our Yuzucello project? Well, it is time to share the results. But first, a little background…

Here are the basic steps we went through during the 60 day process:

It looks simple, but there was a lot of waiting around, wondering what was going on inside that jar and if it would be amazing. Or not. What a lesson in patience! In addition to the waiting, we added simple syrup about 1 month into the process. A couple weeks after the syrup was added, we did a little taste test. Slightly bitter. Added more syrup. Taste tested again. Still bitter. Added a bit more syrup (each time we added just under 1/4 cup). Tastes awesome but now there is too much water in it and it freezes. Boo. On the plus side, the taste is great and it is actually a very nice digestif at the end of a fabulous meal.

If we were to do this again, here is what would change:
1. Use vodka with a higher alcohol content. We were warned by a few of you and should have listened. But we were stubborn. I will say that we had trouble finding anything very high in alcohol content, so we made do with what we had. For the record.
2. Be very, very thorough in removing the pith (the white part of a citrus peel). Thorough to the point of a possible mental breakdown. It is probable that the bitterness would lessen.
3. Remember that we are not professionals. Yet. Practice makes perfect, so I guess we’ll just have to keep trying until we get it right! Poor us.

Overall, this was a very fulfilling experience. We learned a lot and have certainly gained a new appreciation for those that do this often. It is tedious, sometimes anxiety inducing, but has the potential to be extremely rewarding.

Since this didn’t turn out as well as we’d hoped, I’m going to hold off on posting the recipe until it is perfected. Wouldn’t want anyone being disappointed! In the meantime, pour yourself a nice glass of wine or browse the other Cocktail Friday recipes to find something to celebrate the weekend. Happy Friday everyone! Kanpai!

My secret project can now be revealed! Read on to find out exactly what it is…

Since Brad and I discovered the amazingness of yuzu, we had been thinking about the best possible way to take advantage of the unique flavor inside this intriguing citrus fruit. We toyed with the idea of making yuzu sorbet or ice cream after having it in a restaurant in Tokyo. Then, I thought about making yuzu curd…and am still thinking about it… But then the lightbulb went on and we decided to make limoncello. With yuzu. Aw yeah.

In this post are photos of the first day. I used 12 yuzu and one bottle of vodka. After peeling all of the yuzu with a vegetable peeler and scraping off the white pith, I placed the zest in a glass container that could be sealed tightly. I poured the vodka over the zest, sealed the top, and now we wait for 10 days before the next steps.

I’ll be keeping you all up to date with the whole process with photos and short posts until the final day! Stay tuned to see how it turns out!

Can’t wait to give a great toast with this stuff!

The obsession has officially set in. The smell, taste and visual beauty of the yuzu fruit has its hold on me. After my previous cocktail Friday post featuring yuzu, I had to make just one more. I am also one of many girls who is obsessed with the TV show Sex and the City. The signature cocktail in the series, the cosmopolitan, became a hit among many women. I personally love the pretty pink color of cosmopolitans and the tangy sweetness from the cranberry juice. Tasty…

This cocktail is my Tokyo-style variation on the traditional cosmopolitan. It has the same pink color, but a few more unique ingredients, including yuzu and pink peppercorns, that make it especially suited to its name, the Tokyo Cosmo.

The flavor of a Tokyo Cosmo is subtly sweet from the addition of raspberry preserves, which helps to enhance and balance the flavor of the sour yuzu juice. The addition of the pink peppercorns adds a hint of earthy, bright flavor to the finish, leaving a clean feel in the mouth rather than being overly sugary or syrupy. The pink peppercorns also make a beautiful and elegant garnish for this feisty little cocktail.

In addition to developing a Sex and the City-worthy cocktail, a couple of really exciting things happened here at Tokyo Terrace this week. First, my blog post about Argentine Empanadas appeared on the homepage of Wordpress.com. This brought an overwhelming number of great comments, many of which brought tears to my eyes (hubs calls me “leaky”). Thank you to all of you who share your reactions to my stories and recipes. It means so much to read such heartfelt, genuine comments. The second piece of exciting news is that Tokyo Terrace was mentioned in an article on CNNgo.com! Thanks to Heidi from Aromas y Sabores for mentioning my blog at just the right moment on Twitter!

I hope you also have reasons to celebrate this week! Celebrate the changing seasons, spending time with people you love, or just the coming weekend by whipping up a Tokyo Cosmo. Enjoy your weekend, my friends!

Tokyo Cosmo
makes 1 cocktail

1 tablespoon raspberry preserves
juice of 1 yuzu or 1/2 lemon
3 oz. sake (if you cannot find sake, use vodka)
1 oz. Cointreau or Grand Marnier
4 pink peppercorns, plus extra for garnish
ice

In the bottom of a cocktail shaker, mash and muddle the raspberry preserves, yuzu/lemon juice and pink peppercorns. Add the sake, Cointreau and ice. Cover the shaker and shake away until it is just too cold to hold any longer (always a perfect indicator you have shaken enough!)
Pour into a martini glass and garnish with zest from the yuzu (or lemon) and a few pink peppercorns. Kompai!

I made it a point this week to give you two dazzling cocktail posts! Seeing as how I try my very best to keep my promises, here is this week’s second cocktail post and recipe.

Yesterday, I posted a recipe for a “Killer” Whiskey Cocktail made with calamansi citrus. Today, I am giving you another unique citrus based cocktail using Japanese yuzu. I must confess that I was totally confused when I moved to Japan and bought what I thought was a tiny lemon. After one taste I knew I had something much more special than a lemon.

Yuzu is a sour tasting fruit and I find it quite similar to calamansi. They are about the size of a clementine (or tangerine) and the flesh and rind are yellow. These beautiful little citrus fruits are bursting with fragrance and flavor and can be used in drinks, sauces, savory and sweet dishes.

For this cocktail, I decided to pair the yuzu juice with ginger-mint simple syrup. These flavors help to round out the sourness of the citrus without covering it up too much. I especially love the garnish of ginger root and mint leaves.

For another great take on a yuzu cocktail, check out this one posted by The White on Rice Couple. Their concoctions-food and otherwise- never fail!

Japanese Yuzu and Ginger Cocktail
Makes 2 cocktails

6 oz. gin or vodka
juice of 1 yuzu fruit (if you can’t find yuzu, you may use lime instead)
2 tablespoons ginger-mint simple syrup (recipe follows)

Combine gin, yuzu juice and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker. Shake shake shake…shake shake shake…shake your booty (I mean shaker.) Pour into a glass filled with ice, garnish with thinly sliced ginger root and mint leaves.

Ginger-mint simple syrup
Makes about 1/3 cup

1/2 cup honey (or sugar)
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup roughly chopped mint leaves
1 inch piece ginger, chopped

Combine all ingredients in a small, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly for 3 minutes to dissolve honey in the water. Continue cooking over medium heat for another 5 minutes or until a syrup-like texture is achieved. Pour the syrup into a small glass bowl and allow to cool slightly before use. (I have found that when using a cocktail shaker it is helpful to use the syrup while it is still slightly warm, stirring it with the cocktail ingredients to ensure it is well combined before adding ice.)