ponzu

noun pon·zu \ ˈpän-(ˌ)zü \

|Updated on: 28 Jul 2018

Definition of ponzu

: a tangy sauce made with citrus juice, rice wine vinegar, and soy sauce and used especially on seafood

ponzu was our Word of the Day on 08/17/2010. Hear the podcast!

Recent Examples of ponzu from the Web

What to cook: Dip the peppers in a light tempura batter and fry, serving the simple dish alongside a bowl of ponzu sauce.

— noelle carter, latimes.com, "Tempura, salsa and more great ideas for shishito peppers, now in season," 6 July 2018
Crawdads 1375 Garden Highway What's new: A half-dozen dishes recently joined the menu, such as ahi nachos with ponzu and macadamia nuts, grilled cheese with crab claw meat, and a Creole burrito with cod, andouille sausage and crawdads.

— allen pierleoni, sacbee, "Where to go for fun and food along Sacramento's Garden Highway," 18 May 2018
Serve immediately with ponzu sauce for dipping. Adapted from www.earthydelights.com.

— susan selasky, Detroit Free Press, "Shishito peppers: Saute, roast, grill them. (Don't worry about seeds)," 5 June 2018
As depicted, the yellowtail sashimi glows a rosy pink thanks to a delicate film of ponzu.

— mike sula, Chicago Reader, "Radio Anago is Brendan Sodikoff’s sushi cave under the deep dark sea . . .," 3 May 2018
What's new: A half-dozen dishes recently joined the menu, such as ahi nachos with ponzu and macadamia nuts, grilled cheese with crab claw meat, and a Creole burrito with cod, andouille sausage and crawdads.

— al pierleoni, sacbee, "Where to go for fun and food along Sacramento's Garden Highway | The Sacramento Bee," 18 May 2018
The very colorful slaw also is part of the portabello taco with roasted red and green peppers and lime ponzu sauce ($13) and as a side with baby back ribs ($17 or $23).

— vickie snow jurkowski, Daily Southtown, "Trail's Edge Brewing Company offers full menu, lots of craft beer options in downtown Frankfort," 16 May 2018
Drizzle with ponzu dressing, then top with scallions and sesame seeds.

— chris morocco, Bon Appetit, "Ponzu Roasted Salmon for Two," 19 Mar. 2018
This week’s event, for example, will begin with a nigiri amuse, followed by scallops with ponzu aioli, wagyu beef seared on hot rocks, and matcha gateau.

— phil vettel, chicagotribune.com, "Bistro Campagne launches monthly chef dinners," 28 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ponzu.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

The word ponzu is relatively new to English; our earliest English-language evidence of the word - which we borrowed from Japanese - is from 1972. But the word's history isn't as simple as that fact suggests. The Japanese word, which literally means "juice squeezed from sour oranges" is itself from the Dutch word pons. And "pons" comes from (and shares the meaning of) the English word punch as it's used to refer to the beverage concoction that's often served at parties, weddings, and wakes.