Cook and Drink

A few years ago we enjoyed an excellent Kaiseki dinner at Yamazato in Amsterdam. One of the dishes on the menu was Kimizu-Ae: a combination of white asparagus and Kimizu. A few days later we prepared Kimizu, a rich and light sauce. It comes with a velvety mouthfeel, a natural note of sweetness, a bright yellow colour and perfect acidity. Over the years we used it as a base for Béarnaise and Sauce Perigord.

Kimizu combines rice vinegar, mirin and egg. Compared to Hollandaise, Kimizu is lighter, easier to digest and fresher, because it does not contain butter (the egg yolk being the only source of fat).
The vinegar used to prepare Hollandaise or Béarnaise is often a flavoured vinegar, for instance with tarragon, shallot and black pepper. An idea we simply had to try when making Kimizu, with a twist!

Using a microwave oven to make Kimizu is a great idea (see our recipe for Hollandaise), although it does require more whipping and more attention compared to making Hollandaise.

What You Need

• For the Castric (35 ml)
  • 5 ml Vinegar
  • 50 ml dry White Wine
  • 20 ml Noilly Prat
  • One corn of Black Pepper
  • One small Shallot
• For the Kimizu
  • 35 ml Castric
  • 25 ml Water
  • 1 teaspoon Mirin
  • 2 Egg Yolks

What You Do

1. Start by making the Castric
   • Chop the shallot
   • Combine all ingredients and leave to reduce by 1/2 on low heat
   • Pass through a sieve; try to capture the juices of the shallot
   • Set aside
2. Make the Kimizu
   • The castric should be at room temperature
   • Whisk the egg yolks
   • Add the castric, the mirin, the water and whisk some more
   • Now transfer to the microwave and give it let’s say 10 seconds of 30%. Power and duration very much depend on your microwave
   • Remove from oven and whisk
   • Repeat
   • You will now feel the consistency changing. If not, don’t worry, just keep repeating the step
   • You may want to reduce the power or the duration
   • Whisk, whisk again and feel free to find your own way
   • When the Kimizu is ready, take it out of the oven and serve immediately
3. We served the Kimizu with excellent beef and pommes dauphinois