I thought I invented ponzu when I was first learning to cook and accidentally spilled lemon juice in soy sauce. It was an amazing taste. I started to use it all the time for dipping fried or grilled foods, as a salad dressing base, as a marinade, or simple sauce. It's delicious and so healthy. But when I moved to Japan in 1998, I learned that ponzu is a typical sauce and it's really easy to make your own.

Traditionally, a ponzu is simply a mix of soy sauce and acid (lemon, lime juice, and vinegar) and then additional things to flavor it, typically sake, mirin (sweet cooking sake), and a little fruit juice or ginger. One of the best ponzus I ever had was flavored with smashed umeboshi, Japanese pickled plums.

In the spirit of simplicity, my ponzu is broken down into nothing but soy sauce and lemon juice. My basic ratio for ponzu is 1 part soy sauce and 1 part lemon juice. It's simple. For my ginger variation I like to add some crushed ginger to the mix to taste. Every piece of ginger is a little different in intensity so it's important to taste this and add more if needed.

INGREDIENTS