How Kito Yuzu Captured Chefs’ Hearts
If you have yet to fall in love with yuzu, it is perhaps because you have not had the real thing.
“I had used yuzu, but Kito was different,” says renowned pastry chef Yusaku Shibata, who led Team Japan to victory at the 2023 Pastry World Cup. “To me it is the best in the world.”
Chef Shibata is the mind, heart and hands behind Prism Lab, his confectionary brand, which produces the most unbelievable sweets and pastries by “connecting elements like local regions, people, and local materials.” He recently came to New York, where, from Via Carota’s wine and liquor shop, Officina del Bere 1397, he demonstrated the superior quality of Kito Yuzu citrus extracts, jams, and oils in both sweet and savory dishes—alongside Via Carota’s Chefs Jody Williams and Rita Sodi.
Yuzu, a citrus fruit native to Japan’s islands for thousands of years, is not imported to the United States, leaving chefs and home cooks searching out preserved, extract, or oil versions. But, of course, not all of these are equal, which is why Chef Shibata looks to Kito Yuzu.
Located deep in the mountains of the Tokushima Prefecture, Kito’s high rainfalls, remoteness, and atmospheric varieties lend themselves to the most aromatic, rich yuzu from its more than 60,000 trees. This nearly magical source requires not only careful farming, but stewardship of the land and its vegetation to maintain a balance in nature that comes through in the fruit’s unmatched flavor. One of the most prominent sweets makers in Japan, and the world, when Chef Shibata encountered yuzu from Kito, he not only committed to its use, he moved to the region from his home in Tokyo. “It was like a New Yorker moving to North Carolina,” he says.
When judging yuzu, Chef Shibata first looks to aroma. With Kito Yuzu, “aroma lasts longer,” he says. “Making the sweets that I do with the same technique, yuzu aroma tends to disappear, but because of Kito’s quality, the aroma lingers.” Higher quality yuzu products mean that other flavorful ingredients (like added sugar and salt) need to do less work, leading to purer, more whole, balanced dishes.
“What’s really interesting about Kito Yuzu is that we’re talking about terroir,” adds Chef Williams motioning to the countless vintages from widely varying estates along the walls of their shop. “It shares that really unique growing region and then the culture behind it to be a caretaker, that’s an awesome story for chefs to discover.”
Chef Shibata could not agree more, and as he sees yuzu’s popularity growing abroad, he champions Kito Yuzu for its inimitable elements—the same individuality that has won his desserts world renown. “I don’t want to make ordinary sweets. I wanted to study, create and be unique,” he says. “I hope you can taste and feel the flavor of my inspiration with my Kito Yuzu sweets.”
Organic Kito Yuzu Marmalade and Kito Yuzu Extra Virgin Olive Oil are available on Umami Insider and Kito Yuzu Pure Juice is available on Kankitsu Labo
