Sansho Leaf Tsukudani with Dried Whitebait
Quick answer
- Total time
- 30 min
- Level
- Easy
- Servings
- 4 servings
- Ingredients
- 4
About this dish
Sansho leaf tsukudani is a Kyoto preserve made from tender spring leaves.
Read more
The leaves are cleaned, chopped finely, and showered with boiling water to brighten their green color before sake, light soy sauce, and chirimen-jako dried whitebait simmer with them until almost dry. Citrus-like sansho aroma, a gentle tongue-tingling sensation, and the salty savor of fish make a small spoonful sufficient for rice. Sansho has long grown wild around Kyoto's mountain villages and waterways. Cooks use kinome young shoots in early spring, flowers in April, and green berries in May, preserving each short season in different dishes. The finished tsukudani tops rice, rice balls, ochazuke, udon, somen, or chilled tofu. Chopping before the boiling-water rinse helps the leaves retain a vivid color.
Instructions
Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.
- 1Prep
Swish the sansho leaves repeatedly in cold water and remove tough stems, dry leaves, and debris.
Shake dry and chop evenly to 3 to 5 mm.
- 2Heat
Spread the chopped leaves thinly in a heatproof sieve and pour boiling water slowly over every surface.
Leave for 30 seconds, then squeeze lightly.
- 3Control
Put the leaves in a small heavy pan and stir over medium heat for 1 minute to evaporate remaining water.
Add the sake and light soy sauce and mix evenly.
- 4Control
Add the chirimen-jako and reduce to medium-low.
Stir and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, scraping the bottom, until almost no seasoning liquid remains.
- 5Finish
Spread thinly on a wide plate to cool briefly and divide among four small bowls.
Cool any portion not eaten immediately completely before sealing in a clean container and refrigerating.
Practical Cooking Checks
The cues that matter most while cooking.
- Key technique
- Tender sansho leaves are chopped and showered evenly with boiling water.
- Finish cue
- Spread thinly on a wide plate to cool briefly and divide among four small bowls.
- Avoid this
- Anyone with a previous reaction to sansho or related spices should avoid it.
- Storage and reheating
- Cool any portion not eaten immediately completely before sealing in a clean container and refrigerating.
Cooking decision evidence
Calculated Charim data and applicable official food safety guidance.
This recipe
30min, 4 ingredients
Category median
22min, 7 ingredients
Based on 261 recipes
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