Wednesday, March 4, 2009

"Wasabi" - The Green Fire Dragon

Hello there - don't think this is a Fairy tale as the heading sounds. Now imagine a dragon breathing Fire - Would you like to become one? You must have seen some people breathe fire in Carnivals and fetes. It's actually quite easy to transform into one as I discovered being the recipient of one my husband's jokes recently!

It's simple eat WASABI and breathe some Green Fire. That's exactly what I did. Popped 2 Wasabi peanuts coz hubs claimed they were amazing and spicy and asked me to trust him (I should have got the hint with all that convincing but sometimes I can be dense). Oh La! La! AbracaDabra! and SP became a hopping fire dragon for the next 4 minutes. My hubs was obviously rolling on the floor while I enacted this Fire Dragon Act! Grrrr....

It must have been real funny to see me with fire in my mouth and tears rolling down my eyes and trying not to choke and wondering what hit me and hopping mad and all that ended in one kicking brawl. But, the amazing thing was that this feeling lasted for only 3-4 minutes and then there was a numbness followed by a craving to taste more to find out what the hell was that I had eaten. Sceptically I started on the next wasabi peanut trying to get the essence of it and now believe me I'm hooked! Wasabi is the next best thing to chilli on my list now...


Its a Japanese spice known as Japanese horseradish. It's root is used as a spice and has an extremely strong flavour. Its hotness is more like hot mustard than a chilli pepper, producing vapors that irritate the nasal passage more than the tongue. That's why I was hopping mad for only 3-4 minutes unlike a chilli which can burn your tongue for 10 minutes sometimes. Its green paste is used a condiment for sashimi and sushi dishes mostly. Its also available as as a spice in supermarkets or as an ingredient in some packed food like the wasabi peanuts I ate.

Anyone who has dared to try this before or willing to try it now please let me know your reactions.

2 comments:

Priya said...

My friend has gone to drink some Wasabi liquer - after reading this article!

Lord Chiva u better tell me how it tastes...

Shank said...

Yo, it was a wasabi martini, that I went to try the same evening at this Italian Joint called Giancarlos. Was true to its nature, spicy, but the drink din`t have enough alcohol, so had to ask the barman to spike it up a couple of times. Good one for winters.