Yuzu Tama
You may not like green eggs but how about orange? Orange flavored eggs, that is. While eggs that taste like fruit sounds like something out of a Dr. Seuss book or Willy Wonka factory, orange flavored eggs or "yuzu tama" are very much real.
So let’s break this down. Yuzu is a popular citrus fruit in Japan that looks like a wrinkly orange and tastes like a combination of lemon, grapefruit, and mandarin. "Tama" is short for "tamago", the Japanese word for eggs. So yuzu tama literally means yuzu fruit eggs.
Yuzu Fruit
But how, you ask? The answer is a lot less extreme than you probably think. No, there’s no gourmet science lab injecting eggs with artificial flavoring. The process is entirely natural.
Yamasaki Farms, the place responsible for yuzu tama, is located in Kochi, an area in Japan well known for their yuzu orchards. It’s not so strange, then, that the feed consumed by chickens at Yamasaki Farms contains yuzu peels. Once digested, the yuzu peels apparently infuse the chicken’s eggs with the yuzu’s flavor and aroma.
Rocket News 24’s Japanese-language correspondent tried raw yuzu tama over cooked rice (a common and popular way to eat and serve eggs in Japan) and described the taste:
“Oh, wow! The yolk has a mellow flavor, and the white has a great texture, not too soft and not too firm. And when you chew, there’s this invigorating wave of yuzu aroma coupled with a refreshing citrus taste that spreads through your mouth. I’ve never had an egg like this before!”
Yuzu Tama Over Rice
In Tokyo shop Marugoto Kochi, a pack of six yuzu tama goes for 494 yen which is around $4.20 in USD.
Yuzu fruit has already made its way to America and is available as a juice, dried, and as a powder. Though yuzu has been most popular in cocktails, it’s not far fetched to think we could be seeing yuzu tama in the US as representatives from Kochi Prefecture (the area that produces almost half of Japan’s yuzu and yuzu products which now include yuzu tama) have already been promoting the fruit here.
Besides being delicious and Japan’s most popular fruit, yuzu is extremely nutritious. Containing more Vitamin C than lemons, yuzu is also high in calcium, potassium and citric acid.
What are your thoughts? Do you think yuzu tama sounds eggcelent, or are fruit flavored eggs not for your palette?
Sources: Food Republic, The Telegraph, Rocket News 24.
