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 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.”
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”
TJ’s: “Made for us by a supplier in the Republic of Korea, Trader Joe’s Jumeokbap are flavored with a mix of plant-based bulgogi and savory-seasoned vegetables, and take only about a minute in the microwave to go from frozen to soft, steamy, and ready-to-eat. Traditionally, jumeokbap are spherical, reflecting the shape of a closed fist. Trader Joe’s Jumeokbap are a little more pyramidal, making them a kind of vegan mashup of jumeokbap and Japanese onigiri.”
First some history. Originally when Trader Joe’s came out with their KIMBAP, they blew up on social media, perhaps way too much for their own good as the Kimbap was/is sometimes hard to find in stock as it sells pretty fast!
Trader Joe’s apparently realized they were on to something with a Korean rice thing. I think they figured, let’s come come out with another Korean rice product. This newer rice based edible is called JUMEOKBAP. This translates basically as “Fist Rice” referring to rice you can hold in your hand (or fist) and eat. In other words a “rice ball” not too dissimilar to the Japanese rice ball onigiri. However those are usually simpler with plain white rice and something inside.
Jumeokbap are vegetarian with a soy protein “beef less bulgogi” added as well as carrots and other things. Each 10 oz package contains 3 individually wrapped rice “balls” though to be accurate these have a triangle shape. Japanese rice balls (onigiri) are made with plain rice wrapped with seaweed on the outside plus something in the middle. In “jumeokbap” the rice is seasoned, its not plain. It’s mixed with flavorings like soy sauce and sesame oil and has other ingredients. All these tastes are really good and I find these pretty tasty. These Jumeokbap rice balls aren’t huge. They are a little over 3 ounces each. The picture on the package kind of throws you off as far as the size – at least it did me.
As they are not big, I’d say one rice ball may be just a snack, and that at least two would make more of a realistic meal, or side dish, with other things of course. These were tasty especially when I had my idea / hack which is to grillthem (see picture below)
Grilling made them even better. We both found the JUMEOKBAP to be tasty, and we did enjoy eating them with kimchi of course! (Yes we got some really good kimchi at H-Mart as a new one opened up two blocks from our Trader Joe’s!) But in a pinch get some Trader Joe’s kimchi which is ok in a pinch, to eat along with these.
To make the grilled version, I had the idea to kind of do them like “Yaki Onigiri” (yaki means grilled). Frankly I thought these Jumeokbap were even better grilled up as opposed to just nuking them as the grilling added even more flavor.
HOW TO GRILL JUMEOKBAP: Instead of following Trader Joe’s instructions to microwave them, what I did was first let these thaw left out on the counter for a hour or two (wrapped). Next I put them in a cast iron skillet on medium heat, adding a little oil. I grilled them on each side for about 5-6 minutes or just until they got slightly browned. Sesame oil would be ideal but any oil will work.
Try them grilled! Its worth the tiny bit of effort as they get tastier.
Now to make them “even more Korean” in addition to the grilling we then ate them wrapped up in some Trader Joe’s “seaweed snacks” (aka Roasted Korean Nori). This was also a great idea. So I suggest buying some of the Seaweed Snacks (“Kim or Gim”) as well to really enjoy these. And some kimchi of course even the TJ’s one in a pinch, is better than nothing.
Trader Joe’s Vegan Banana Bread with Walnuts is achieved “without the use of dairy or eggs (or, of course, any other animal products).”
This is one of those TJ’s vegan products that appeals to non-vegans (like me) as well. I found this as tasty as other banana breads that aren’t vegan.
“Whenever we introduce a vegan version of an existing product, we always make sure that it will appeal to non-vegans as well-our philosophy being that when it comes to comfort food, you shouldn’t have to compromise. We’re happy to report that Trader Joe’s Vegan Banana Bread passes this test with flying colors, boasting a fabulously sweet banana-walnut flavor and dense, moist texture. Every soft, flavorful bite gives in nicely, without any of the rough or gritty consistency that you can occasionally encounter in certain other ‘alternative” breads.”
Aha! These were not actually discontinued. Just OUT OF STOCK for more than a year
I thought Trader Joe’s discontinued their useful bag of dried whole GREEN LENTILS.
They vanished for a very long time. Maybe over a year? But yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to see bags of these back on the shelf. Trader Joe’s sold a ton of these green lentils (and also red lentils) during Covid, as people stocked up on things like dried beans.
I love lentils. They are delicious and of course super healthy. Like all legumes they are packed with protein and fiber. One of the best things about I love is that lentils cook fast. They cook far quicker than beans. Unlike most dried legumes or beans, lentils don’t need to be soaked. Second they need only about 16-20 minutes of cooking, not 2 hours, to cook.
They are great for both vegetarians and as well as non-vegetarians like yours truly. One of my favorite ways of making lentils is French Lentil Stew with Sausages. Here’s a pretty simple recipe of this style:
Here’s another recipe I found for an excellent dish: lentils with goat cheese, which can make a nice lunch or dinner. I revised the original recipe I saw from chef Jose Pizarro to make it easier and less complicated to source (ie, finding wild garlic aka ramps is not so easy)
My simpler recipe still tastes wonderful…like some dish you would get at a fancy restaurant.
Now if only TJ’s will bring the Red Lentils back!
Trader Joe’s Whole Dried Green Lentils $1.99 ( 16 oz bag)
LENTILS WITH GOAT CHEESE & HONEY (revised from Chef Jose Pizarro’s dish)
2 cups lentils water or veg stock or chicken stock 4 cloves garlic, chopped 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar 1 pkg Honey Chevre goat cheese 1-2 tbsp honey (or hot honey if you like spice!) 1 small handful scallions
Wash lentils, drain, put in pot and cover with plenty of water or stock (if just water season with some salt). Bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer. Cook for about 15-20 minutes or just until lentils are tender but still have the tiniest bite (the exact timing will depend on the kind and age of your lentils). We don’t want mushy. Drain the lentils and put in large bowl.
Mix in chopped garlic, add olive oil and vinegar, and season to taste with good sea salt and fresh pepper. Stir gently to combine. Tip the lentil mixture into a serving dish or divide between individual plates. Crumble up the goat cheese in little chunks and put all over the top, drizzle with honey, and scatter on chopped scallions.
(if you are vegan, you could leave out the cheese and still have a decent dish)
Trader Joe’s SAVORY SQUARES Vegan Cheddar Style Crackers made from nuts and seeds. (Gluten-Free)
My neighbor bought these and told me to come try them to review them.
The two of us, neither being vegan nor gluten free, were still quite impressed with these. Both of us were quite surprised at how good these new crackers Trader Joe’s just came out with are. Gluten Free or not. They taste great. Yes “cheesy” without cheese or dairy. The main ingredients are tapioca flour, almond flour, sunflower seed flour, flax seed meal, potato starch, yeast extract and other things.
Made with all these kinds of nuts and seeds and other things they have a very Savory taste and cheesy as well. Both of us who you could say are hard core cheese lovers said like the way they did taste a bit cheesy. These are one of those products that are so good you will like them if you are vegan or non-vegan, gluten free or non gluten free. Thats how good they are.
If you just gave me these and didn’t tell me anything I would just assume they were regular cheese crackers not something that was vegan or gluten free. I would just say these crackers are really good, period. Meaning anyone is going to love these. This is not one of those gluten free products that is a mere shadow of the original its trying to come out like. This is a really terrific cracker that I expect anyone would love. They are so flavorful. Full of “umami”. Really these are the bomb people.
We ate the crackers just by themselves – again, terrific – but as we are definitely not vegan – we are both total Cheese Heads, we said these crackers are great. Now lets put some good cheddar cheese on them and see how they are with cheese!
Yes as good as they are by themselves of course we cheese freaks thought they went great with cheese too. If you do cheese boards these will go well with any kind of cheese, or any other topping for that matter.
But if you are Vegan, or Gluten Free you will love these for being that AND tasting really good!
The only downside of these is they don’t give you a ton in the box and they go fast!!
My wife’s gotten addicted to these. She is buying them every time she goes to Trader Joe’s. She says they’re the best cracker she ever had.
$3.99 box (5 oz)
Trader Joe’s says this:
“The cheese cracker is a time-honored treat, a classic savory snack for kids and adults alike. However, it’s not always an option, dietarily speaking, as most tend to be made with gluten and dairy ingredients. That’s where Trader Joe’s Savory Squares come in. Made with a mix of nut and seed flours, these superbly snackable Squares achieve an unmistakably Cheddar-y cheesiness and satisfyingly crispy crunch, all without the use of any gluten or animal-based ingredients.
Excellent for everything from simple, everyday snacking to scooping up your favorite creamy dip, these Savory Squares are ideal for bringing along on road trips, toting to board game nights, or packing into school lunches. They can be enjoyed totally on their own, as a standalone snack, or mixed in with other savory treats”
Saw these today at my local Trader Joe’s. These long peppers caught my eye and looked really good, though I didn’t get to try them yet. They say these are sweet, not hot, some gourmet variety for a long pepper. Most peppers I see shaped like this have been of the hot variety but not this one.
One idea for these is they would be perfect for stuffing and I found the growers website and they have a number of recipes for stuffed peppers which look and sound pretty pretty good.
I would expect these are one offs so if you want too try them and you see them, probably buy asap while they are in stock, which I expect is Limited.
Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants) 
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