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Sudachi, one whole fruit and two halves with pale green flesh
Photo: Ocdp, CC0
  • Citrus fruit
  • 酢橘

Sudachi

Picked green, because that is where the aroma sits.

Flavor profile

Citrusgreen peel 95%
Acidityacidity 90%
Grassgreen tone 40%
Bitternessbitterness in the peel 35%

The strengths are editorial judgments on a scale within the family, not measurements. They can be compared across the citrus varieties, not directly against another family.

Origin Tokushima on Shikoku accounts for 98 percent of the country's shipments

Sudachi is a small green citrus from Tokushima that is never eaten whole, only squeezed: half a fruit over grilled fish, soba, or matsutake. It is harvested unripe while the skin is still dark green, because that is where the aroma sits. Within the family it is the small, sharp one, a third the size of a kabosu, and it still delivers both juice and peel aroma worth counting on.

Sensory analysis

Pyramid and character

Aroma

from the peel

  • green peel
  • lime
  • leaf

Taste

on the tongue

  • acidity
  • citrus
  • faint bitterness

Finish

what lingers

  • fresh
  • short
  • clean
ACIDITYSWEETNESSBITTERNESSPEEL AROMAJUICE YIELDFRESHNESS

Character 0-100 per axis, set relative to the other entries in the same family. An editorial judgment of a typical serving, not measurements.

Background

Facts

Origin
Tokushima on Shikoku accounts for 98 percent of the country's shipments, and the fruit is a protected geographical indication under the name Tokushima Sudachi
The name
the name comes from sutachibana, written 酢橘, literally vinegar citrus, from the days when the juice was used as vinegar; today it is usually written すだち or スダチ
Kinship
Citrus sudachi, which genetic analysis places as a cross between yuzu and a citrus related to the koji and tachibana oranges
Size
30 to 40 grams and 3 to 4 centimeters across, roughly a third the size of a kabosu
Kabosu
kabosu comes from Oita, weighs 100 to 140 grams, and has a rounder acidity; sudachi is smaller, sharper, and more aromatic per fruit, and the two are mistaken for each other more often than any other pair in Japanese citrus
Harvest
outdoor harvest runs from August to October, with greenhouse growing and storage stretching the season; the skin turns yellow if the fruit is left on the tree, but what is lost by then is aroma
Use
squeezed over grilled sanma, sashimi, matsutake in dobin mushi, soba, and udon; in Tokushima also into shochu and in place of vinegar
Symbol
the sudachi blossom has been the official flower of Tokushima Prefecture since 1974

At the table

Use

Dosage
half a fruit per serving is enough for a grilled fish or a bowl of soba
Timing
squeezed just before serving; the aroma is fleeting and survives neither a simmering pot nor a quarter of an hour on the plate
Note
the peel carries more aroma than the juice and can be grated over the finished dish; whole fruit keeps for a couple of weeks refrigerated as long as it does not dry out

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