Trader Joe’s Yuzu Kosho – Japanese Citrus Chili Pepper Paste
NEW ITEM!
“Savory, zesty and invigorating with a nice even level of heat”
Trader Joe’s recently introduced this new condiment which you could call an “Asian Citrus Wonder Paste”. Their new Yuzo Kosho paste has an amazing taste that is citrus-y, spicy, zingy and just loaded with Umami. This condiment is made by combining the Japanese citrus, yuzu with green chili peppers into a paste, which typically is then fermented.
Yuzu as you probably know is an Japanese citrus that looks like a cross between a lemon and a grapefruit.
Yuzu has an incredibly unique flavor. Chefs all over the world have fallen in love with yuzu, the juice as well as the flavorful peel. You see yuzu a lot in restaurants now and its a hot trendy item, no doubt one of the reasons Trader Joe’s is really going “all in” on yuzu stuff – they’ve just come out with 3 new Yuzu based products: this Yuzu Kosho, as well as Yuzu Miso and Green Tea and Yuzu spread.
Yuzu Kosho is a traditional Japanese condiment, which I have bought a few times in Japanese stores. I love that Trader Joe’s is carrying it now and for a good price too.
Using Yuzu Kosho: First thing to know is a little goes a long way so just a small dollop will give a big pop of citrus flavor with a bit of heat to your dish. Tasted on its own you will think its salty but you use it small amounts. Of course you may reduce adding the salt you might have used if you use this depending on what you are making.
What is it good with…? Just mentioning one thing, this stuff is just great with fish.
I was going to make broiled salmon yesterday, and remembered I had this new yuzu kosho paste to try out, and was waiting for something to use it with. I was going to make Miso Glazed Salmon so I thought what if I mixed a bit of the Yuzu Kosho in as well into Miso?
I took about a tablespoon or more of the Miso and maybe a scant teaspoon of the yuzu kosho. I mixed the two pastes up together and spread this mixture all over the salmon and just let it marinate for about 5 minutes.
I pre-heated my broiler and popped in the fish in a cast iron pan. I cooked it for about 6 minutes or so, keeping a close eye on it to make sure it didn’t burn. As soon as the top was a lovely deep golden brown I took it out and let it sit for a few minutes to finish cooking in the hot pan.
All I can tell you the salmon was delicious this way. Very yummy, people I promise you if you try this you will like it. I served the salmon with rice and edamame, and the whole dinner was was delicious. The miso and yuzu kosho combo was perfect. Even my Japanese/Korean wife gave my Miso Yuzukosho Salmon dish a big thumbs up. And she is tough !
As well as fish you could use yuzu kosho (and possibly the miso/yuzu combo) with chicken, tofu, mixed into vegetables… frankly almost anything.
Now Trader Joe’s just came out with Miso Yuzu too alongside the Yuzu Kosho. Its probably also good but I do like my miso/yuzukosho combo for the added kick.
“Use yuzu kosho whenever you want to enliven a dish with punchy citrus flavor and heat. But use it sparingly; a dollop goes a long way. Start by swirling a teaspoon into stir-fries, salad dressings, meat marinades, and sauces.”
Trader Joe’s is selling these potted sunflower plants for $4.99 each (Summer ’24)
I think these are so cool looking, don’t you?
They will really brighten up a room.
After I saw them at the entrance to my Trader Joe’s, I just could not resist.
I picked up one and then actually went and got another to give to my neighbor. She thought this might be a special mini variety that will stay fairly small. I’ve seen sunflower plants grow to be 6 feet tall or more. But this size is perfect for any room or entrance way. We will see if it grows into a monster but if it stays in fairly small pots will probably stay fairly small.
The nice thing about this living plant over the cut sunflowers I’ve also seen at Trader Joe’s is as this should stay around for longer than the cut sunflowers, which I think probably look best for about four or five days.
There are a number of buds below the flower that may flower themselves in time. I will probably re-pot this in a week or two as its very root bound.
I may update this with another picture in future as more buds open up and if it gets more flowers. Here are some tips on growing i found…
UPDATE: The plant looked healthy and for a few weeks but after about a month it doesn’t look great anymore. Oh well! I confess I didn’t replant it, which might have helped it last longer.
Trader Joe’s new GREEN OLIVE FLATS Italian Lingue Crackers.
These are typical Italian style crackers, almost in the bread stick family. These ones however are flat and long, thin with a few bumps. They are very tasty. Light and crunchy, and one can definitely taste the flavor of green olives which you see a few bits and pieces of.
My review is these are yummy. Three of us tasting these for the first time all agreed that these were quite a good new Trader Joe’s product. Frankly we all liked them so much we pretty much devoured most of the box tasting them! “Just one more bite….”
Of course these would match well with a pasta dish, again kind of like bread sticks. But naturally they would be good with almost anything you could think of. I just imagined wrapping prosciutto or any good thinly sliced ham around them, again like one might do with some bread sticks. I can seeing these being great on a cheese plate.
BTW- “Lingue” means tongue in Italian. As in, that’s what it looks like!
Trader Joe’s just introduced a few new crackers to their lineup recently, both of them Made in Italy.
I saw them on the NEW ITEMS shelf and this “pizza” one in particular caught my eye
Pizza Seasoned Crackers? Really? Yes, Please.
The cute, little round “pizza crackers” do pretty much resemble a little pizza. They’re both cute and tasty! The baked crackers have tomato sauce and quite a bit of oregano. Look. Little crunchy pizzas, people…
My review: They’re good. I am giving these a Thumbs up! In fact, 3 of us tasted these to try test taste them. We all liked them. We all said Good New Product.
We ate them naked, by themselves to start with. Tasty and yes reminiscent of pizza with lots of oregano. Next we topped them with slices of cheese, which of course they matched well with. We had Smoked Gouda on hand and they were very good with it but naturally I think they would be really excellent with some sliced fresh mozzarella. If you buy these, I would definitely try that combo. But honestly lots of things would be good with these.
So worth trying. I would buy these again.
(Tip: after you open the package I suggest keeping the leftover crackers in a resealable zip-lock bag to keep them as fresh as possible.
Here’s the latest Small Lot coffee offering from Trader Joe’s(Summer 2024).
This one is another African coffee, specifically from Kenya called “Kenya AA Karatu”. In Kenya, “AA” indicates the highest grade beans.
First off don’t you just love the very attractive design, related to traditional African textiles. Once again the really creative and terrific graphic designers at Trader Joe’s came up with something that is as usual Spot On and makes you want to buy it! And I did.
OK so the bag looks nice, but is this new Kenyan small lot coffee actually as good as it looks?
In a word, yes. Its good folks. Frankly my personal preference in roasts tends towards darker ones, as I usually make espresso style coffee drinks that have milk. But I appreciate any good coffee. I love coffee. And I found this one to be very good. So if you are like me trust me. You want to try this one too.
“Produced by a small collective of farmers in Central Kenya each sip is marked with notes of black curranty, citrus zest and cacao…” Sounds yummy, no?
These bag is labeled Medium roast. In this case I agree with Trader Joe’s description, which is not always the case. Maybe I would even say its “Light/Medium” roast. In any case the beans are not at all shiny, they are a dull cinnamon color.
Upon grinding up the beans you get a lovely aroma which yes it seems to have those notes the label mentions : “black current, citrus zest and cacao”.
With my freshly ground beans ready I brewed myself a cup of Joe.
Good? Very. Smooth but robust with a hint of acidity. You know how when you finish up a cup of a good coffee you like, you immediately wonder, “should I make another one”? Well I wanted another cup of this.
I think this latest small lot coffee is well worth a try especially if you are interested in African coffees. I so much prefer this one from Kenya over the last small lot coffee from Ethiopia from a few months back, of which I was not a fan. Pretty decent price at ten bucks a bag too (12 oz bag).
So if this review makes this Kenyan coffee sound worth trying – and it is – grab a bag it while you still can. The sign said “LIMITED” so will vanish whenever they sell out. If you try it and like it you might even want go back and get another bag or two for the pantry. That’s what I usually do when I hit on a Small Lot coffee that I fancy. In these foil vacuum packed bags, whole beans can survive a couple of months. Right now I have two bags of that medium dark organic BOLIVIAN coffee I am in love with in my pantry.
Trader Joe’s site says this about this Kenyan coffee:
“Once ground and brewed to your personal preferences, Trader Joe’s Kenya AA Karatu Small Lot Coffee makes a complex, yet balanced cup, with a bold, full body that’s complemented by a pleasantly citric acid structure. While it’s an excellent (albeit elevated) everyday kind of coffee, we find it serves especially well as part of a big breakfast or brunch: its bright notes of black currant and cacao make it a great pairing option with a flaky chocolate croissant, an auspicious eggs Benedict, or a tall stack of pancakes covered in fresh berries.”
I love pistachios and I love chocolate. So when I saw this new item Trader Joe’s recently came out with, naturally I wanted to try it. The concept sounds good.
But the reality? Well, while tasty three of us tasted this and had the same reaction. This isn’t a slam dunk success. Why not? Pistachios are kind of delicate and subtle in flavor. The texture is also a little soft. Coating them in chocolate sounds good but we found the the chocolate really dominates and overshadows the flavor of the pistachios. Unlike other nuts, say almonds where the almond can really stand up equally to the chocolate. You know you are eating almonds, as they have a more distinct in flavor not to mention a very crunchy texture.
So while I find it kind of tasty its a bit of a miss not a hit . I probably won’t buy this again. If I want a chocolate covered nut, I will just stick to the chocolate almonds or cashews.
Trader Joe’s came out with this NEW PB called “Peanut Butter With Honey”. It’s an All Natural peanut butter with just 3 ingredients: dry roasted peanuts, organic honey, and sea salt.
My regular preferred type of peanut butter would be the “Crunchy” kind. But this looked interesting enough to me to try despite the fact that in general, I don’t get “sweetened” peanut butter – meaning commercial brands like say Jif which have corn syrup (yuk!).
I like All Natural, minimal ingredients. Just peanuts and little salt… so my normal go to choice at Trader Joe’s is their Crunchy/Salted with the blue label which has only dry roasted peanuts and sea salt.
But I wanted to check this out, so I did and guess what? I liked it, actually way better than I expected to. I like this. Its pretty good! Seeing the words “…With Honey” I had no idea how much honey, or how sweet it might be. And I would say “Not” sweet. To me this has a very low amount of honey so the barest hint of sweetness. Minimal. Lets face it honey is expensive, much more than peanuts, so they may had a thimble of it in each jar.
From the label, we can see that this says 3 grams of total sugars whereas my regular TJ’s all natural pb’s blue label (just peanuts) says 2 grams of total sugars (meaning some is naturally occurring).
And don’t get me wrong I do love peanut butter and honey together, as those two ingredients are a wonderful match. Give me a a toasted Whole Wheat English muffin spread with some peanut butter and some honey any day of the week for breakfast. Yum.
This new PB with honey is not crunchy however its not exactly “smooth” either. A touch of texture. Trader Joe’s describes it as “between crunchy and smooth” meaning a slightly coarser texture than “smooth. Not much but not smooth like commercial ones.
The little bit of extra oil on top mixed in easily when I stirred it up and stayed mixed. Keep it in the fridge after stirring it of course. By the way the official way to store peanut butter once opened is in the fridge not in the cupboard.
UPDATE: When I got another jar after the first one, it was harder for me to mix it all together. It took a little work and lots of stirring to to get it all mixed up. Maybe it was just that jar. Another jar a few weeks later I got was again easy to mix.
So to summarize this review I like this. I found it very tasty and better than I expected to as its barely sweet and has a little bit of texture, not too smooth. So I think this new PB is worth a try. Especially if you have kids perhaps as of course this is way better for them than say JIF or the like. However this is fine for adults too!
Perhaps try a peanut butter and banana sandwich on TJ’s very nice Organic Seeded Bread?
I can certainly see using this for making Asian dishes or noodle dishes…. UPDATE: Made a dipping sauce for Rice Paper Shrimp Spring Rolls with this PB and it worked great. It will very well for Asian dishes or sauces that call for peanut butter
“Made with just three ingredients—dry roasted peanuts, honey, and salt—the coarse texture of this peanut butter falls somewhere in between creamy and crunchy, giving it loads of textural interest when spread on a sandwich or Whole Wheat English Muffin. The addition of sea salt amplifies the floral sweetness of the honey, and further highlights the round, roasted flavor of the peanuts. Unlike other brands on the market, our Peanut Butter with Honey contains no hydrogenated oils—give it a good stir before enjoying and you’ll be ready to spread with abandon”
(I think they dropped this for a new product, Roti with sauce)
I love this product but unfortunately just when I was going to post this, I could not find it at my Trader Joe’s. Checking the website, it’s listed at the moment as “currently unavailable”. Maybe its even been discontinued? Who knows? But I am crossing my fingers it comes back sometime in the future! If it comes back however I do highly recommend this product – and Authentic Indian bread which is a bit unique and different from typical Naan type Indian breads.
This Paratha is both flaky and crispy and quite delicious. Its kind of similar to some Chinese scallion pancakes (but no scallions) in style and texture.
“Heat our Malabari Paratha from frozen in a lightly oiled, non-stick pan until golden, and you’ll find a bite that is crisp on the outside and soft & moist on the inside. It’s the perfect partner for our Indian Fare meals, or any of our frozen Indian entrées.”
Trader Joe’s says: “Made with organic wheat and whole wheat flour and sweetened with a touch of organic sugar cane molasses, Trader Joe’s Organic Seeded Bread is soft, chewy, and ever-so-slightly sweet. Loaded with organic sunflower, flax, poppy, and sesame seeds, it’s also as hearty as can be, with a perfectly toothsome, seedy texture. Use it for all of your sandwich-making needs, or toast and slather it with Cultured Butter and your favorite fruit preserves”
It’s just loaded with seeds.
I really like this bread and buy it all the time. It’s one of my favorite sliced breads Trader Joe’s sells. The name says it all: “Organic Seeded Bread” and they are not kidding about “loaded” with seeds. This bread has a lot both on the outside as well as on the inside, which makes this a pretty hearty bread which works great for sandwiches as well as toast.
Wholesome. Whole Grains. Sunflower, flax, poppy, white and black sesame seeds and millet, all organic of course. No dough softeners, preservatives or artificial ingredients. One slice has 6g of Protein.
(Just FYI I keep bread in the freezer, where it will last a month or two. Keep it tightly closed)
(june 2024) Trader Joe’s currently has this fresh “PURPLE GARLIC” at the moment. Its being sold along the “regular” white bulbs of garlic they always have.
This purple stuff is basically what you would usually see at a farmer’s market. The Gourmet (expensive) kind
I’m going to guess this purple garlic is a “limited item” so if you want to try it – and trust me you do ! – if you see this, snap it up.
The garlic itself is not purple, its white , but the skin is purple with stripes.
Its $1.99 for 4 bulbs (50 cents each basically) which is the same price as TJ’s regular fresh garlic .
This purple garlic however is a bit more “gourmet” like a Farmer’s Market find. At my local farmer’s market, I’ve seen garlic off a farm sell for $2-4 A BULB!!!
(update: it was definitely Limited – and around for just June)
Anyway why “purple” and what’s the difference between purple garlic like this and the other regular garlic bulbs Trader Joe’s sells? I had to Google it. Basically it is “Hardneck vs Softneck” varieties of garlic….
“Purple garlic has a purple hue to its papery skin, though the inner cloves are the same color as white garlic cloves. It comes from a variety called hardneck garlic….Purple garlic cloves are “juicier” and have a milder flavor than white garlic when fresh. You might see purple garlic in some supermarkets, but it’s more likely to be found in specialty markets and at farmers’ markets.”
How did it taste? Excellent. I really liked this garlic so I bought more the next time I saw it. This garlic is super fresh and excellent quality.
If you see this I recommend getting it while you are still able to. I don’t expect to see this forever but who knows, maybe they have this supplier for good now so we will see it every summer. I hope so!
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