Yuzu

[Indirect Heat]

I tried Mitsuwa for fresh yuzu, but didn't find any. Does anywhere in San Diego reliably carry yuzu this time of year?

Thanks in advance.

[mayuchico]

Usually Japanese supermarket starts selling Yuzu around/after Christmas time. It's because yuzu is very winter citrus in Japan, and also Japanese people use yuzu for New Year's dish a lot.

[cgfan]

Your best bet would be to grow it at home, as availability at the stores is mixed at best. (I'd also always check Nijiya Market over and above Mitsuwa for selection on hard to find goods...) Of course there are always many Yuzu and Sudachi preparations that you can buy, most of which are excellent, though definitely not a replacement for the fresh fruit.

My personal rec would be to special order a tree from Cedros Gardens on Cedros Ave. (of course) in Solana Beach. they bring them in once a year, so make sure you get on their very short list for this oversubscribed tree if this interests you at all... BTW Specialty Produce claims to carry it, but their description of it does not match what I associate with Yuzu. I doubt what they have on their site, called Yuzu limes, is a real "Yuzu"...

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Nijiya Market
3860 Convoy St # 109, San Diego, CA

Specialty Produce
1929 Hancock St, San Diego, CA

[Indirect Heat]

Alas, I am a renter, otherwise I would grow them. I really need to buy a place.

I'll check Nijiya, thank you. My only other source has been a friend in Houston who brought them here when they were available there.

[phee]

Thanks for pointing that out, cgfan. I was unaware of the difference. Maybe what SP has is a crossbreed of sorts. I do have a tree, but it's still small so I have no comparison for the actual fruit.

[J.L.]

For whatever reason, real yuzu is an absolute bear of a tree to grow in Southern California.

After repeated yuzu seedling demises (including greenhouse conditions), I asked a Japanese chef, who said in essence that you must graft the branches onto a lime tree for it to survive here. I've yet to try this, but I will report back.

I doubt any of the "yuzu" trees you'll find in local nurseries will survive in SoCal (or even if they are indeed real yuzu). Again, I am not sure what condition(s) particular to SoCal is/are so incompatible to the survival of the yuzu here.

[Indirect Heat]

My dad was a big fan of grafting. We had apple trees growing up that made multiple different kinds of apple. Good fun, that. And really, an average lemon or lime tree will make far more fruit than an average family can use (or even a family that uses a lot of citrus, like we do). Perhaps that's what we need to do when we buy a house. Grow a lemon/lime/meyer lemon/yuzu tree. Now *that* would be good times.

[J.L.]

I actually have fruit trees in my backyard, but winter may not be a good time for grafting. Like I said, I'll report back.

By the way, there's a lot of yuzu fruits for sale in the various Japanese supermarkets here in L.A. - Not hard to find at all.

[phee]

They show up on Specialty Produce's website as "Limes - Yuzu". Looks like they're in stock, but the grower's website doesn't list them. I'd give SP a call and see if they're available.

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Specialty Produce
1929 Hancock St, San Diego, CA