What is wasabi?
Many think wasabi is a paste served on the side of a sushi dish, while it is in fact a rhizome, a mass of roots, like ginger and turmeric.
Why bother making your own Wasabi paste?
I used to think it was a waste of time to make your own wasabi paste. Tubes of wasabi paste are available in most supermarkets as well as Asian grocery shops. A common problem with tubes, however, is that they contain much more paste than you need for a single meal. A crust therefore often forms in the tube, making the remaining paste less appetizing to use.
Then I found a small can of S&B Selected Wasabi Powder.
I then discovered how easy it was to make fresh wasabi paste.
If you still need convincing to make homemade paste, look at the wasabi paste ingredients listed on the label. Tubes of already prepared wasabi paste contain the following ingredients: Horseradish, Sorbitol, Rice Bran Oil, Sugar, Modified Food Starch, Salt, Water, Cellulose, Wasabi, Artificial Flavor, Citric Acid, Turmeric, Xanthan Gum, Artificial Color (FD&C Blue#1). Such a long list of ingredients, many of them artificial! S&B Wasabi powder on the other hand contains only 4 natural ingredients: Horseradish, Mustard, Tapioca Starch, and Wasabi. Reading the label of ingredients alone should be enough to encourage you to choose the powder instead of the paste.
How to Make Wasabi paste
To make homemade wasabi paste, all you need to do is mix 3 teaspoons of wasabi powder with 1 teaspoon of water in a small bowl. Turn the bowl over for one minute before it’s ready to be served. That’s the entire recipe! You can make as much or as little as you want, depending on your needs.
How to Use Wasabi Paste and Wasabi Powder
Wasabi paste is an essential accompaniment for sushi or sushi bowls (chirashi sushi). Click on the following links to discover how to make sushi bowls (chirashi sushi) with brown sushi rice.
Wasabi powder can also be added on its own to other dishes to give some flavor. For instance, you can substitute wasabi powder for dry mustard or horseradish in any dish.
Wasabi powder has a long shelf life (over 2 years), giving you many opportunities to use it up.
Don’t wait any longer before switching to wasabi powder! You will notice the difference!
Wasabi paste
Instructions
- Mix the wasabi powder and cold water together in a small bowl. Turn the bowl upside down and wait 1 minute. Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
Turn the bowl upside down?..
Yes, turn the bowl upside down, Guy. See the third image. Let me know if you have other questions.
Aw, tell Guy you’re sorry. The third image in this recipe is the S & B label. There is no image of upside-down bowl.
Guy (and I, and probably most folks), just wanna understand the reason.
Hello Aunt Bonnie, the images have been added back in. Thanks! Enjoy the recipe.
But WHY turn the bowl upside down?
Hi Beth, great question! It’s part of the instructions. I think it’s so the water humidity are drawn downwards so the paste does not have too much dampness on the bottom. Extra dampness could cause it to spoil more quickly.
This is how to make horseradish paste with a hint of wasabi, not real wasabi paste. The ingredients of even the one you suggested is mostly horseradish. To make wasabi paste, all you have to do is finely grate wasabi root. That’s it.
This is an easy and acceptable way to make wasabi paste. It’s a lot easier for many people who may not have access to fresh wasabi root.
Thank you for this information. I love wasabi. My kids think I’m crazy. I will be buying the powder.
Hope you and your family enjoy it! You’ll see how easy it is and how much money you’ll end up saving.
Beautiful…
Thank you so very much!
Thank you!
Is it possible to use something other than water? If not, is it possible to infuse the water with other flavors or spices?
Hello, Tim. I’m not sure because I’ve never made it with anything other than water. Since wasabi paste is used as a condiment to flavor dishes, I’d recommend making it with water so the full flavor prevails. You can then mix the paste with other flavors or spices if you like to create something new. If you are set on trying other liquids, my guess is that it would work with other liquids. The flavor and consistency would surely be affected. If you do experiment, please send me back comments about your experiences. I’m really fascinated by your train of thinking. Thanks!
What colour is your wasabi powder? I once bought a tin from a Japanese chain supermarket. I was white and didn’t taste like anything resembling wasabi. I brought it back. They never contacted me. All the instructions were in Japanese.
Hi Edward, the powder is a slightly yellowish white color. It’s very pale. It only turns green when you add water to it. You can click on the link in my article to purchase some powder via Amazon. Let me know if you try it.
Is it possible to make it with less heat if less paste is used? I know it should be obvious, but wasabi is a weird condiment that I love but for the heat.
Hi, Trudy. You can’t dilute the heat when you make it since the ratio of powder to liquid is fixed. If you add more water you will merely have a more liquid paste. If you want less heat, I’d reduce how much you use of the paste when you add it to food. Or dilute this paste down further with water when using it. Let me know if you experiment. Thanks!
Thank you very much for sharing. I can’t find the Amazon link on your page. I did find it on Amazon for 13 bucks for 2.2 oz. What was the first comment About the custom of eating in Japan? The common disappeared
Hey Ivan, thanks for alerting me about the missing comment. I’ve now deleted my response. I don’t remember what was mentioned in the comment. I removed the Amazon links but will soon add them back. The price you paid on Amazon seems really high. I noticed that another brand, Hana, offers a much better value. Thanks!
Hi, do you have any ohter uses for wasabi paste other than Sushi? I love it and would like to use it in more dishes!! 🙂
Hello Diane, you can use wasabi paste as a seasoning in sauces, condiments and other dishes. For some inspiration, discover this list of suggested uses of wasabi paste: https://www.sbfoods-worldwide.com/wasabi/tips/ Come back and share some of your favorite uses.
Hi! This is great, but do you use 5 tbsp powder and 3 of water? Your diagram and the words are confusing, probably only to me! Thanks.
Hi June, you got it right. 5 parts wasabi powder for 3 parts water. Hope this helps you.
Blue Diamond makes a wasabi-soy sauce flavored almond. They are addicting.
With that as my inspiration–when I mix my wasabi paste at home–I replace 1 part water with soy sauce.
So it becomes: 5 parts wasabi powder, 2 parts water and 1 part soy sauce.
So good.
Thanks Neil for sharing your inspiration.
I make a killer salad dressing with light balsamic vinaigrette and wasabi. Yum!!!
Thanks, Devra! Want to share the recipe?
I’ve used wasabi powder in my deviled eggs for a couple of years now and I’ve gotten a favorable response from anyone who has tried them. Tonight is the first time I’ve made the paste to use on shrimp and crabcakes and I’m looking forward to a true sinus clearing treat.
Thanks Edward for sharing your experience. It’s fun to discover new ways of using wasabi paste!
Thanks for this!!!!
You’re very welcome, Marilyn!
Fresh wasabi knocks the socks off of prepared wasabi. Be cautious in how much you put on a piece of sushi. IT WILL MAKE YOU SEE STARS IF YOU OVER DO IT!
Thanks a lot for the tip! Hartelijke dank – merci beaucoup. Very fun to have found your blog as I’m an American recently back from living over a decade in Belgium. My son and I will use this to make wasabi rice cake snacks, now that our imported stash from Albert Heijn is dwindling.
Thanks, Katherine. You will see how easy it is to make your own. Enjoy!
I came upon this blog because I just bought wasabi powder and all the instructions are in Japanese. Thank you for sharing! I love wasabi on meat dishes — porkchops, hotdogs, and steak. I put it on adobo too!
So glad, this post helped you, Eeza!
Thank you!
great idea to turn upside down
You are the only site I could find regarding flipping the bowl. Is the Japanese horseradish powder more spicy than the “fake” wasabi?
Thanks. Got 3 tins of S&B Wasabi powder and the instructions were in Thai so this was a lifesaver
Thank you for sharing this information about the custom for eating wasabi. Much appreciated!