I’ve been watching this season’s Top Chef, and one ingredient keeps popping up in the “Quickfire Challenges” and the “Elimination Challenges”. That ingredient is yuzu.

Yuzu fruit, from Wikipedia
After hearing it mentioned for the umpteenth time in a dish description, and never seeing a glimpse of a yuzu being broken down for a recipe, I finally googled yuzu.
Wouldn’t you know it, yuzu is 유자.
Yuza, or Yuja as it’s called in Korean, is a citrus fruit that looks a lot like a grapefruit. It’s able to withstand much colder temperatures than other citrus type fruits, and is used in Chinese, Japanese and Korean food cultures.
I realize I am not the first K-blogger, or ex-K-blogger in my case, to write about Yuzu or Yuja. However this was kind of a shock to me, so I hope I can be forgiven for duplicating information that’s probably already been put out there.
Yuzu is 유자 (Yuja)!
Korea based readers would be most familiar with 유자 as the main component in 유자차 (Yujacha, or Yuja tea sometimes labeled as Citron tea*). It’s ever present in the teacher’s room alongside the green tea, and Maxim instant coffee sticks (in both Mocha Gold and original flavors).
You can also get it in most convenience stores from the hot drink box near the front of the store (next to the other good-for-you drinks).
*Although, technically it’s not a tea since there are no tea leaves in the mixture.

Homemade yujacha in a jar, from Wikipedia
유자차 (Yujacha) comes in a big jar and looks an awful lot like marmalade, as you can see above. In fact, I used it as a marmalade often when I was living in Korea.
I asked my co-teachers about 유자차 (Yujacha) on more than one occasion. They stressed the health benefits of drinking it, especially during cold season. I asked if the fruit was ever eaten outside of 유자차 (Yujacha) but my co-teachers couldn’t remember ever eating it. Apparently the fruit is best as a preserve to counter the fruit’s natural bitter and sour flavors.
To make tea from 유자차 (Yujacha) you just need hot water, and a spoon. One spoonful of 유자차 (Yujacha) is mixed into the hot water, or more according to taste. The taste is bright and citrusy.

Yujacha jar, from Wikipedia
Intitally I’d only had 유자차 (Yujacha) as a hot tea, but tried it Hongdae as a sparkling drink at The Aa Design Museum earlier this Spring.
The Aa Design Museum in Hongdae.
Iced sparkly 유자차 (Yujacha) at the Aa Design Museum in Hongdae. Note the back of a certain prolific Korean food blogger’s laptop.
It was so tasty as a cold drink that club soda and 유자차 (Yujacha) topped my grocery list when I got back to Atlanta.
유자화채 – Yuju Hwachae
Yuju is also in 유자화채 (Yuju Hwachae) , a fruit punch from the Joseon dynasty and a local specialty of Jeolla and Gyeongsang provinces. Since the majority of the Yuju grown in South Korea is from the southern part of the peninsula, where these provinces are, I’m sure it’s tasty.
Sadly I never got to try 유자화채 (Yuju Hwachae), has anyone had it before?