ponzu

noun

pon·​zu ˈpän-(ˌ)zü 

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

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.

Examples of ponzu in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Wonton chips and smoked ropa vieja are topped by cotija cheese, aji amarillo sauce and a ponzu reduction. —Martin Vassolo, Axios, 4 Oct. 2024

Think: chicken sausage and kale soup, griddled onion burgers, ponzu chili steak bowl, sweet and spicy ponzu pork meatballs, or curry in a hurry chickpea flatbreads. —Emily Farris, Bon Appétit, 28 Sep. 2024

Potes drizzles brown butter over hamachi crudo swimming in yuzu ponzu and lime zest. —Stephanie Breijo, Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep. 2024

For the ponzu sauce: Mix the soy sauce, lemon juice, orange juice, yuzu juice and rice vinegar together in a bowl and store in the refrigerator. —Victoria Moorwood, The Enquirer, 5 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

Japanese ponsu, ponzu juice squeezed from sour oranges, from Dutch pons, literally, punch, from English punch entry 4

First Known Use

1966, in the meaning defined above

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