Mikan Yuzu Sorbet みかんゆず ソルベ / シャーベット

Most sorbets and sherbets are made using an ice cream machine.  But thanks to a technique I learned from the chef/owner at one of my favorite restaurants - Maido in Kanazawa Bunko - you can make these desserts at home without one.  By using a food processor you can achieve fairly good results.

Since we're in mikan season here in Japan, the grocery stores have plenty of them. So it made a good flavor for my first attempt at a home made sorbet. There are no seeds in mikans (at least not these) and they have a lot of juice. They are known as mandarin oranges in the West.

Yuzu is also just starting to get into season (December/January) so I'm going to add the juice of one yuzu to the mix. It's distinctive flavor will add some depth.

I only discovered Yuzu after coming to Japan. Its unique flavor makes it a great flavoring for a number of dishes. It's sour, so you probably wouldn't eat one by itself, and there isn't much pulp. But the juice that is there and the skin supply flavors that are a cross between a lemon, grapefruit, and an orange. The Hiragana is ゆず and you can see it on the package below. At the store I bought them, they are sold in packs of one or two. This one was about 140 Yen or $1.40.  It comes from Kochi prefecture 高知県 which can be seen on the package above the word yuzu. Kouchi and Ehime prefectures are the two big yuzu producers in Japan.

Ingredients for mikan-yuzu sorbet

 Ingredients:
- 8 to 10 mikans
- one yuzu (can substitute a lemon)
- Some yuzu zest
- 50-60ml water
- 2.5 Tablespoons sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Cointreau (can be omitted if desired)
- 1 package (5 grams) of Jellice gelatin (explained below)

The special ingredient here is Cointreau. Its a very strongly flavored orange liqueur.  You'll only add a bit for flavor.

Yuzu on the left, and mikans

Get some zest from the yuzu skin after washing it. Cut all the mikans in half. 

You can see the large seeds and little pulp in the yuzu. 

Use a hand juicer and drain the juice through a strainer into a container. Some pulp will get through which is fine.

Sugar and water

Dissolve the sugar into water as the water heats to boiling. Once dissolved, add the gelatin.  Jellice is a Japanese brand of gelatin. I'm not sure what the conversion is if you are using Jello or another brand of gelatin. Since we are making sorbet and not jello, I don't think the quantity of gelatin was that important. Although the total amount of liquid was about 500 ml and would normally call for 10g of gelatin (if you were making jello), I only used 5g (one package) since this is going in the freezer and not making jello.

5g pack of Jellice

If you'd like to reduce the amount of alcohol but still desire the flavor of the Cointreau, you could add the Cointreau to the boiling mixture so that the alcohol boils off, otherwise just add it in the next step below.  Important: This method does not eliminate the alcohol, only reduces it. Keep in mind the recipe only adds one tablespoon, so it's not a lot to start with.

Add the Cointreau to the juice. Add the water, dissolved sugar and gelatin to the juice while stirring.

Cover and place in the freezer. After about an hour it will start to set. Mix it with a spoon.  Do this a few times. You'll have to lick the spoon to taste it of course. Wow. This is going to be good. It tasted really fresh.

If you're doing this during the day, you can mix it up about every 30 minutes such that you end up aerating it a bit. I made mine overnight, so below I'll show how to change it from a block of ice into sorbet.

 You'll end up with a block of frozen product. So remove it from the container and place on a cutting board.

 Slice the block up with a knife and add it to a food processor (in batches if needed).

Transfer it all back to your storage container and mix it with a spoon again until creamy. Put it back into the freezer and serve when ready.

Essentially your food processor is just doing the same thing the ice cream machine would have done, which is to aerate the mixture.