How do you coat almonds in wasabi and keep it spicy and crunchy? (my wasabi paradox)

Question

I've been trying to make wasabi and soy sauce almonds, like the ones you find at the store (Blue Diamond) but the only recipe I've found (food.com) is very underwhelming. Despite using varying increasing amounts of wasabi, the spicy factor is non-existant.

I suspect the heat from baking causes wasabi flavor to lose it's intensity, so it must be added at the end. But, I haven't been able to find anything to coat the almonds to the outer shell and maintain the roasted/crunchy almond exterior.

Since wasabi powder is "matured" [and activated] with water and a short (covered) resting period, refining it into more powdery makes it stick better but still not spicy.

How do I get my wasabi almonds to come out spicy?

Note: I have also tried horseradish on almonds (which is just wasabi without food coloring) and baking it off.

Asked by Lam

Answer

Wasabi can also be activated by oil. So. Make yourself a nice intense wasabi oil, add equal part by weight of maltodextrin, stir. Voila, a nice sticky powder perfect for adhering to your almonds.

Answered by n/a

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How do you coat almonds in wasabi and keep it spicy and crunchy? (my wasabi paradox)

Question

I've been trying to make wasabi and soy sauce almonds, like the ones you find at the store (Blue Diamond) but the only recipe I've found (food.com) is very underwhelming. Despite using varying increasing amounts of wasabi, the spicy factor is non-existant.

I suspect the heat from baking causes wasabi flavor to lose it's intensity, so it must be added at the end. But, I haven't been able to find anything to coat the almonds to the outer shell and maintain the roasted/crunchy almond exterior.

Since wasabi powder is "matured" [and activated] with water and a short (covered) resting period, refining it into more powdery makes it stick better but still not spicy.

How do I get my wasabi almonds to come out spicy?

Note: I have also tried horseradish on almonds (which is just wasabi without food coloring) and baking it off.

Answer

Wasabi can also be activated by oil. So. Make yourself a nice intense wasabi oil, add equal part by weight of maltodextrin, stir. Voila, a nice sticky powder perfect for adhering to your almonds.

Check more discussion of this question.

The art of Sushi: using wasabi to kill parasites

Question

I've been to many sushi places and last night I went to a place that I've been to before (not that long ago either). When the sushi came, we noticed that it had wasabi spread on the rice, under the fish.

When we complained we were rudely told that the chef had been doing sushi for 30 years and wasabi is used to kill parasites in the fish.

This is believable since I know in some countries, red peppers are used in foods all the time for the same reason.

However, my understanding of sushi is that the chef is a craftsman who not only picks great fish, but also knows how to find and remove parasites.

My question is, is this normal? Is it proper for the Sushi chef to add wasabi to the sushi to help prevent parasites? If so, how come I've only encountered this practice once out of the many sushi places I've frequented?

Answer

This is perfectly normal, however, I find the common claim that "it is to prevent parasites" a bit dubious (I would think that it would have to be uniformly applied to the entire fish to have any measurable effect). The wasabi is really there to add flavor. In really high-end sushi restaurants in Japan, for example, it is relatively uncommon for the guest to be served a mound of grated wasabi. Instead, the chef applies the perfect amount of wasabi to each piece of sushi. Some chefs will not even serve soy sauce, instead individually brushing on the sauce on each piece. If wasabi is served separately from the fish, it is generally also considered bad form to mix it with the soy sauce (as is commonly done in the US).

Edit: To answer your question about why you've never seen this practice before, here are some possible explanations:

1. It takes more time/skill/effort to do it properly.
2. Many sushi restaurants in the US do not have properly trained sushi chefs. In fact, in most areas of the country with little or no Japanese population, don't be surprised if your sushi chef is a Salvadorian who learned from the Oaxacan who learned from the Korean owner of the restaurant. Not that there's anything wrong with that; one of my favorite sushi places is run by an Indonesian. Just keep in mind that the people making you your sushi may have never experienced the "real thing" themselves.
3. "Real," fresh wasabi is very rare and expensive. Most of the stuff that is used in the US is basically horseradish paste plus food coloring. Restaurants that can both procure and afford to use the real stuff will want to use it sparingly; they wouldn't want to waste it by putting a mound of it on each plate. Therefore, they might be more inclined to use the "proper" technique.

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Is there a special Wasabi paste/powder I should use when I'm making Wasabi ice-cream?

Question

A friend of mine once made Wasabi Ice-cream. I remember she was saying she had used some special 'Wasabi Powder' Unfortunately I can't reach her, and I wanna try to make this Wasabi Ice-cream at home..

I am wondering if it's anything special I should consider when using Wasabi to make ice-cream (wondering about the cream curdling, etc) or can I just use the standard Wasabi (or horse raddish) paste I get in the Asian section of the supermarket?

Answer

To my knowledge wasabi paste is just wasabi powder that has had the water added to it by the factory. So if you are looking at paste vs powder I would go powder. The question to me would be to make it a paste before you add it to your ice cream base or to add the powder directly to the ice cream base. I would venture to say you should be just fine adding the powder directly to the ice cream base.

Now, for the ugly truth. Pretty much all you wasabi powder sold in the US or Japan for that mater isn't really wasabi(or contains very little wasabi). It is horseradish, that is colored green and has some sort of mustard or turmeric added. And really not what I would want to try in an ice cream. Plus the flavor of the pastes are not like fresh (even with horseradish).

If I were doing an ice cream, I would want to stay away from the powder all together. I would visit my local specialty food market or online specialty market and see if I could source real wasabi. But cost might be prohibitive for you as it is very expensive. Next the good news is, there are some powders out there that are actually dried ground wasabi powder such as this one at "The Spice House". It was most likely something like this that your friend used if she did use a powder.

Anyway, I hope this is helpful to you. And good luck.

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