Wasabi Shrimp and Wasabi Mashed Potatoes

A good comparison today. Two recipes, both alike in dignity, in fair DC, where first we set our scene. The wasabi shrimp I tried to make worked much like any regular recipe, trying to use wasabi as a traditional spice. As a result... nothing. No heat, only the tiniest echoes of wasabi flavor. The mashed potatoes, on the other hand, did what I suggested yesterday - tried sneaking the wasabi in around the side door. As a result, they keep a lot more of the wasabi flavor.

Word to the wizard, though - mix those potatoes well. (I have, depending on how you look at it, either a good or a terrible eye for bowl sizes. That is, given a known quantity of ingredients, I am good at knowing exactly what bowl will fit all the things that need to go in. What I don't have, however, is the forethought to take the next bigger bowl, if I'm going to be mixing ingredients rather than just storing them. Combine that with being too lazy to transfer everything and clean an extra bowl once I've realized that the process of mixing will spill half of my ingredients on the floor... and I often wind up mixing things in a less than vigorous manner.)

That being said - if you don't mix them well, do not give the heaviest wasabi bit to your spice-phobic wife.

Wasabi Shrimp Ke-Babs

24 shelled and deveined shrimp (I almost always use 31-40 count shrimp, but honestly, that's purely because of pricing pressure. At my local supermarket, they're often on sale and therefore half the price of the larger shrimp. I would probably choose to use larger shrimp, if this wasn't what I had at home.)

1/8 cup peanut oil
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sake
1 tablespoon wasabi paste
2 cloves minced garlic

Mix up all the non-shrimp ingredients, whisking thoroughly. Remove half the sauce to a zip-lock bag. Marinate the shrimp in the bag for fifteen minutes, making sure to squeeze all the air out so the marinade is in full contact with the shrimp. Remove the shrimp, skewer them, and either broil or grill them for 3-4 minutes a side. Serve with the other half of the sauce for dipping.


I'm learning, right? Anyone who's been reading this blog for any length of time has heard me sing the same song a dozen times. This is a bad recipe. I should have, upon reading it, realized that it wasn't going to work as promised. I probably could have corrected the flaws, come up with something different that actually did what it promised. But, I didn't; I went ahead with this recipe, and got something which...

Well, to be perfectly honest, something which was really, really good. Broiled shrimp marinated in soy sauce, with some garlic for extra punch and peanut oil to give it a nice tan? I would totally make that again. It was delicious. But, if I was appearing in the Wasabi Battle episode of Iron Chef, the vapid Japanese soap actress would remark approvingly that she couldn't taste the wasabi at all in this dish. Then Chairman Kaga would totally katana her.

I do have one thing to fess up to - when I made these shrimp, Victoria and I were out of sake, so I didn't include it in the recipe. There is a chance - a remote chance, but a chance nonetheless - that the sake, in some way, has some heat-fixing effect on the wasabi. I somehow doubt it, though.

If I had it to do all over again, I would probably marinate the shrimp in soy sauce, with some garlic, ginger, rice vinegar, and a splash of peanut oil. I would grill them, then make up a wasabi mayonnaise sauce (I'll talk about that tomorrow) and either drizzle it over the shrimp or give a small bowl to each person for dipping.


Wasabi Mashed Potatoes

Yum. These came out great. I usually do a slightly more complex mashed potato recipe - a blend of red and russet potatoes, a la Good Eats s01e02 - This Spud's For You. (Admittedly, an early episode and one I've watched several times - but I don't know if I should be worried that I can cite Good Eats off the top of my head.) However, I didn't think that would work here - I didn't want the extra texture that the red potatoes would add, I just wanted a smooth and consistent dish. For whatever reason, I didn't feel like chunks and spice would go well together, and I stand by that. (In similar news - never make a screwdriver with pulpy orange juice. Recipe for instant vomit, that.)

I'm going to be relying heavily on that good eats episode here - so if anything I'm writing is unclear or incomplete, just go to the source.

3 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

Put these into a big pot, and fill it with water until it just barely covers the potatoes. Add salt until you can taste it in the water - Alton says "until it tastes like seawater" but I don't think that really helps me. Put the heat on, bring it to a boil, and then simmer until the taters are soft - about twenty minutes. You should be able to pick out a potato with tongs and crush it easily.



Prepare some wasabi paste - two tablespoons powder, one water, and leave it to sit. (If that's not enough water to reconstitute all of the paste, keep adding more, slowly - literally a drop or two at a time - until you've got a nice solid ball of wasabi.) Should leave you about fifteen minutes for the wasabi to wake up, which is exactly the right length of time.
Once those are on their way, get some whole milk or heavy cream - about a cup - on medium-low heat in a saucepan. Toss some butter and some minced fresh garlic in, and carefully - carefully! - bring the heat up. You want to soften the garlic, but a heavy boil will ruin everything really quickly, so just keep your eye on it. When the potatoes look like they're ready, take this off the heat.

Drain the potatoes, and either transfer them into a mixing bowl or put them back in the pot, depending on where you prefer to mash. Add the wasabi to the milk/cream mixture, and whisk it until it's mostly dissolved. Now, pour some of the liquid into the potatoes and start mashing; the liquid lubricates the process, and at the same time gets absorbed by the potatoes. You can definitely ruin potatoes by over-mashing them, so go easy; you're unlikely to ruin them with too much of the milk mixture, so don't worry about going heavy on that. Early on in the process, give it a taste, and add a pinch or two of kosher salt if needed. Once it's mashed, it's ready to serve.

I would go easy on the garnishes here; sour cream or butter would hardly go awry, but I wouldn't add cheese, and I'd be wary about bacon, scallions, or anything like that. Now, I know, it seems insane that I'm encouraging people not to add cheese or bacon to something; it's just my gut feeling that it wouldn't really work out that well. Actually, maybe scallions would be good. Who knows.


So, again, the lesson for today is this: don't try to treat it as a regular ingredient. It hates that, and will give you nothing in return. Treat the wasabi as something special, give it the royal treatment. Make it feel special, and it'll reward you; make it spend too much time with the hoi palloi, and it'll leave before you get a chance to taste it.


Finally, in ironic news - coming of age in the era of Dan Quayle has left me totally unable to spell the plural of the word "potato". If it wasn't for the magic typing box telling me when I'm right and when I'm wrong, I'd be making myself look like a fool accidentally, rather than on purpose.