Yuzu Ice Cream and Matcha Meringue
hwoo.lee•
January 7, 2026
Inspirations: I can’t remember where i got the exact idea, but I originally wanted to do yuzu ice cream with Korean citron honey tea. The ice cream recipe is directly from Just One Cookbook (reprinted here with Namiko’s permission!); the matcha meringue is based on Jeremy Fox’s recipe.
Number of times I’ve made this dish: 8
Early mistakes I made: The first time I served this, I dusted it with straight-up matcha powder. Our servers came back to tell us that the guests were coughing up matcha. From then on, we never served matcha straight up like that again. Haha.
Lessons learned: Good ice-cream machines make a huge difference. I was borrowing a friend’s Cuisinart ice cream maker at the time (I owe him so much).
Secrets unlocked: Use a tea ball infuser to dust fine powders.
Practical culinary science learned: Dana Cree’s Hello My Name is Ice Cream cookbook unlocked so much for me about about stabilizers, custard temperatures, ratios, and that you can also make ice cream in blenders. This recipe is as I made it in the beginning. As the book continues, you’ll see more advanced ice-cream recipes.
Techniques improved through repetition: I learned this the hard way: be careful when you boil milk. It takes a while for it to start bubbling, but once it’s boiling it rises really quickly and can overflow/ spill all over your gas range.
Ingredients (13)
Ingredients (13)
Yuzu Ice Cream
Matcha Meringue
Instructions
Yuzu Ice Cream
In a mixing bowl with the whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks (8) and sugar (1 ½ cups) at medium-highspeed until fluffy, about 2–3 minutes.
Separately, bring the milk (4 cups) to a simmer (not a boil) in a saucepan.
Very slowly, very demurely add the warmed milk to the egg mixture, whisking constantly at the lowest mixer speed. You can move faster once you’ve introduced enough milk to temper the eggs.
Transfer the custard mixture back to the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a silicone spatula until thick enough to coat the back of the spatula, about 4–5 minutes or so. Don’t let the custard boil because your custard will turn into scrambled eggs.
Pour the cream into a medium-size bowl. Set it over a larger bowl filled with ice.
Strain the custard through a fine-mesh strainer into the bowl of heavy cream.
Whisk in the yuzu tea (½ cup) and a pinch of salt. Stir until cool then chill thoroughly in the fridge.
Pour the custard into your ice cream maker and churn according to the instructions, usually about 25 minutes.
Transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and freeze until firm.
Matcha Meringue
Combine the sugar (1 ⅕ cups) and starch (1 ½ tsp) in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites (½ cup), cream of tartar (6 Tbsp), and salt on low speed. Increase to medium speed and whisk until frothy, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the sugar-starch mixture to the mixer in 3 parts, continuing to whisk until the mixture reaches soft peaks, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Scrape the vanilla beans (2) into the mixer, along with the vinegar (1 Tbsp). Continue to whisk until you reach stiff peaks, 3–5 minutes more.
Spread the meringue into a uniform layer on a sheet tray lined with a silicon mat. Dehydrate at 130 °F–150 °F until crisp (about 8 hours).
Alternatively, you can bake this in the oven for about 1 hour at 225 °F, then drop the heat to 200 °F and bake for 1 more hour. It’s just a little less precise and more finicky to do it in the oven.
Allow the meringue to cool, before breaking into large shards.
Assembly
To plate this dish, scoop a nice sphere of ice cream into a bowl or plate.
Separately, place a large shard of meringue on a cutting board and dust with the sugar-matcha blend.
Don’t do this on the plate you’re serving on. You don’t want dust all over everything.
Gently lay the meringue on top of the ice cream. Serve.