A Japanese twist on Burrata Crostini served with ikura and arugula. This creamy cheese works well with salty and savory red caviar. Add a bit of yuzu pepper for a pleasantly spicy kick.
I am a huge burrata fan. Whenever I see the Italian cheese on the menu, 90% of the time I order it. That creamy and soft cheese is so wonderful with leafy greens on a toasted slice of french baguette. The burrata appetizers I order are always an Italian or Californian themed dish. But recently, I was so surprised to see Burrata Crostini with Ikura and Yuzu Pepper on a menu in a Japanese restaurant.
Japanese Twist on Burrata Crostini
I never imagined that my favorite burrata would go so well with Japanese flavors. But I can’t take credit for the discovery. This amazing idea of combining burrata cheese, ikura (red caviar), and yuzu pepper (yuzu kosho) was served at my new favorite Japanese restaurant – Kemuri Japanese Barú in Redwood City, California.
This Japanese-style Burrata Crostini blew us away. Mr. JOC and I loved this dish so much that we had to recreate it at home. So thank you Kemuri Baru for inspiring us with your wonderful version of this dish!
The creaminess of the burrata, the salty and unique texture of the red caviar, the spicy and citrusy taste of the yuzu paste, and the fresh peppery arugula leaf on top of toasted baguette. It’s a harmony of flavors and colors. If you can get yuzu pepper paste – which is a famous condiment from Kyushu (a region in southeastern Japan) – this crostini will be taken to the next level of amazingness!
What is Burrata?
For those of you who have never tried burrata, it’s a special type of fresh semi-soft Italian cheese made from cow or water buffalo’s milk. It has a solid outer curd made from fresh mozzarella (but burrata is not mozzarella cheese) and it’s filled with a soft curd and fresh cream. It has a buttery and milky flavor with a very creamy texture.
The unique part about this cheese is that when you slice it open, the creamy center flows out, making it great for topping a crostini or salad!
5 Ingredients to Make Burrata Crostini
There are 5 ingredients to make this dish: Burrata, ikura (red caviar), arugula, yuzu pepper, and French baguette.
- Burrata Cheese – Get a quality brand of burrata cheese. In these photos, I used a burrata cheese from Trader Joe’s. Although I am a huge fan of TJ’s, I wasn’t impressed with the burrata cheese from the store as it wasn’t very creamy.
- Ikura (salmon roe) – Salmon roe be found in Japanese grocery stores, gourmet grocery stores, or conveniently on Amazon. Japanese grocery stores sell smaller portion size (a package of 0.10 lb ikura for $4.50 ($44.99/lb)), in case you don’t need a 4-oz can of red caviar from Amazon.
- Arugula – Arugula is the perfect addition to this crostini, as it has a peppery taste to counterpart the milky creaminess from burrata. It also adds a refreshing taste to the dish.
- Yuzu Kosho – Yuzu pepper paste has a spicy, salty, and citrusy taste. It’s strong, so a tiny bit of paste goes a long way.
- French Baguette – Grab a really good French baguette with a nice crispy crunchy crust.
What is Yuzu Pepper (Yuzu Kosho)?
Yuzu Pepper or Yuzu Kosho is a spicy Japanese condiment made of yuzu zest, green chiles and salt. It’s a specialty of Kyushu cuisine, a region in southeastern Japan. When we were in Kyushu last summer, we enjoyed yuzu kosho in many different dishes. The most surprising way to enjoy yuzu kosho was to add it into miso soup! I love that spicy kick!
Yuzu Kosho can be found in Japanese grocery stores or on Amazon. My favorite jar of yuzu kosho paste is the one in the picture above.
If you are looking to host a Japanese-theme party for the holidays this year, it’s definitely worth getting these unique ingredients. They may look like a million bucks, both ikura and yuzu pepper are surprisingly affordable. Also, you want to check out this delicious spread for more Japanese party recipes. And serve these burrata crostini for an appetizer. They will surely make an impression at the party even before dinner is served.
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Burrata and Ikura Crostini
Ingredients
- 2 balls burrata cheese (let it come to room temperature)
- 3 Tbsp ikura
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp mirin
- 1 baguette (cut into ¼-inch thick slices and toasted)
- ½ cup arugula (for garnish)
- 1 Tbsp yuzu kosho (Japanese citrus chili paste) (optional, but highly recommend for spicy kick)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- To prepare marinated Ikura, add ikura, soy sauce and mirin in a small bowl and mix all together.
- Drain the Burrata cheese and place in a serving dish. Gently break open the cheese (I make a slit on top) and put the marinated ikura on top. Surround it decoratively with arugula and serve with sliced toasted baguette.
- To enjoy, place burrata cheese, arugula, ikura and put a bit of yuzu kosho on top of crostini.
I was looking forward to this recipe as I do all of Justine. Having prepared, I’m not a big fan. Didn’t work for me the combination of ingredients, although like them individually. Curious what to do with leftovers?
Hi Nicole,
Thank you very much for trying this recipe.
We are sorry to hear that you did not like the combination of the ingredients.
You may use the cheese and arugula as pizza toppings, and Ikura for Salmon Sashimi Bowl, etc.: https://www.justonecookbook.com/search/?q=ikura.
The baguette can be used for a french toast: https://www.justonecookbook.com/french-toast/.
And Yuzu Kosho can be used for Miso Soup with Yuzu Kosho: https://www.justonecookbook.com/miso-soup-yuzu-kosho/.
We hope you enjoy these.🙂
How do you make the yuzu kosho paste like you have on the spoon in your photo?
This looks AMAZING.
Hi MH,
Nami bought the Yuzu Kosho from a local Japanese store.
It is a paste made from chili peppers, yuzu peel, and salt, which has been fermented.
You can learn more about Yuzu Kosho and where to buy in this post: https://www.justonecookbook.com/yuzu-kosho/
We hope this helps!
Thank you for sharing this creative recipe which I will try out at my dinner party tomorrow! I’m
not sure if I can get yuzu pepper here but I’ll have to improvise with lime zest and ground green chillis!
One of our guests is a vegetarian – what would you recommend as an alternative to Ikura?
Hi Emily! For your vegetarian guest, how about preparing good quality olive oil, figs, berries, melon, and other stone fruits. Tomatoes and basil work great too, like mozzarella. 🙂 Yuzu Kosho (yuzu + salt + green chili peppers) have a salty and zesty kick. You can buy on Amazon too, but since it’s tomorrow maybe it’s a bit too late (or your local Japanese grocery stores sell it). Since burrata is mild creamy cheese, and ikura gives nice pop in your mouth, something salty zesty or spicy kick is great. 🙂
Hi Nami! I made this tonight as part of our dinner. I loved the idea of fusion! I thought the same as you as far as burrata that I bought from TJ. I hope to try this recipe again but with burrata with a creamier middle. One thing that I added to provide a little crunch (another the baguette was pretty crunchy) and salt flavor is a piece of Korean seaweed. Kicked up the flavor a notch! My daughter just happened to be eating it with her meal so we tried it in between the bread and cheese/ikura/arugula topping and it was so good! It got a little too salty as the ikura mixture got saltier as time passed but super good at the beginning! We also tried it with the Trader Joe’s Parmesan crisps (we ran out of our bread!) without the Korean seaweed and although it was too much flavor for me, my husband loved it!😊 Thank you for this recipe! I will make it again!
Hi Mandie! Your Burrata cheese from TJ was the same? I guess it is the same kind and not only my batch. I haven’t got Burrata from TJ ever again because it should be creamier! I just had bad luck picking one up just for the photoshoot day (for this recipe) but definitely try again with creamier one. To me, it makes a huge difference.
And oh yeah, the Korean seaweed is a perfect touch! I love wrapping/eating everything with Korean seaweed. Thanks for the suggestion! And Parmesan crisps. Could be too much going on in one bite but I would love that crisp!
Thanks so much for trying this recipe, Mandie!
:O All my favorites in one dish?! I will try this asap.
Just a question. How long in advance can I prepare the marinated ikura before serving? If it’s prepared too early, will it become too salty?
Hi Jessica! Yes it’ll get a bit salty when ikura sits in soy sauce marinate for a long time. You can reduce the amount if you have to sit overnight etc. 🙂 Hope you enjoy this dish as much as we do! 🙂
I love burrata too and am always disappointed when I buy it at the grocery store. It never has the right texture compared to when I eat burrata at a restaurant. If you discover a good supplier or how to get grocery store burrata to have the right texture, I would love to know!
Hi Sabrina! I know what you mean, Trader Joe’s one was a huge disappointment (and it happened when I had to photo shoot! Ahh!). But it was a good lesson that I could talk about in the blog post. BelGioioso is okay. I like Di Stefano Burrata Cheese and it was very soft and creamy. I also tried different ones from local (more gourmet) grocery stores, but I can’t remember the product/brand names, but I remember they were more pricier. I’ll try to remember to take a picture next time.