To top it all off, we’re lovers of ramen and we actually were able to eat Ippudo ramen in- flight on ANA! Yes, we’re talking about one of our favorite NYC and Tokyo Ramen spots, in the air! Ippudo is also one of ANA’s Connoisseurs. All of the food partnerships on ANA rocked our world. We just couldn’t believe we were eating such phonomenal and thoughtfully crafted dishes in- flight. ANA recently partnered with Patina, and it couldn’t have been better.
Coupled with Patina’s contemporary and seasonal take on “western- style” dishes compliments wonderfully with ANA’s fantastic culinary offerings and stellar service. ANA thoughtfully curated their in- flight menu by bringing world class hotel and restaurant partnerships to their guests, way up in the air during flight. We were lucky enough to experience the Patina partnership on our flight from LAX to Tokyo, but there are several other ANA routes that have food partnerships with other world class hotels and restaurants – you check all of them out here.
Every attention to detail is truly an inspired guest experience. ANA’s vision for an elevated in- flight dining experience is not only innovative, but truly brilliant. This is one airline that really “gets it” and understands the desire to eat quality, thoughtfully prepared meals during long and laborious flight schedules. You definitely get what you pay for and if you’re the Business traveler or someone who just wants a little more comfort during your flight, ANA has it covered. They collaborate with “Connoisseurs”, a group of world- renowned Chefs and culinary professionals that curate creative meal and drink selections for their International flights. They not only feature traditional Japanese cuisine collaborations but also with Chefs from around the globe.
We’re so inspired from this trip, that we’re sharing our absolute favorite Japanese Yuzu recipe: a creamy, super- fragrant yuzu sherbet. Quick Pickled Mustard Greens. Yuzu is one of our favorite citrus that we grow, but this Japanese citrus tree can be a bit stingy in its offerings so we make sure to get every last bit out of the citrus we can. Even though ours grow to the size of a large lemon, due to the large seeds and the pulp’s texture, the juice is minimal. We’ll maybe get a tablespoon of juice from a large yuzu.
However what it doesn’t have in juice, it more than makes up for in the aromatic oils in the zest. One slice into a yuzu and we’ll be smelling it across the room. So in creating this yuzu sherbet we knew the zest would be key. We zested the yuzu directly over the blender to help all the oils fall into place.
Added the sugar, some lime juice to help boost the lack of juice from the yuzu, tossed in what little yuzu juice we could, and then blended it all up with milk and cream. Farfalle Recipes there. Chill it, churn it, and a few hours after we plucked the yuzu from the tree we were experiencing something amazing. The sherbet has a fluffy, creamy texture.
Like a glacial version of perfect whipped cream. And the yuzu, oh my the yuzu.
Even with just the zest and a minimal amount of juice, the yuzu’s flavor comes front and center in the sherbet. So refreshing and bright. One can tell it is related to the lemon but the flavor goes beyond. Until you have fresh yuzu it is hard to imagine, yet once you’ve tried it you’ll never forget the taste. Now if you can’t get fresh yuzu (most of the year it isn’t available to us and we know many a professional chef which have a hard time sourcing this amazing citrus), our next best recommendation would be to substitute some other fresh citrus.