I recently read a pasta recipe that includes wasabi on Carolyn Jung’s Food Gal blog. It sounds very comforting - just what we need now. But I don’t have any wasabi, and I’m too law-abiding to take a bunch of the packets from the sushi counter at the grocery store. Any suggestions on powder vs. paste, and which brands are the best? The selection on Amazon is a little overwhelming. Thanks.
Here’s the recipe: https://www.foodgal.com/2020/04/wasabi-soy-sauce-pasta/
S&B is the most common I think.
That said, if you have not tried noodles (or rice) with soy sauce and butter, that’s a worthy start even without the wasabi! And if you have horseradish you could certainly sub that for v2.
Right now, I’ve a tube of Yamachu in the fridge. I’ve used S&B in the past. To be honest, I didn’t compare them side by side, and didn’t find a big difference. Try to find one made in Japan than a Western brand. One tube lasts forever in the fridge, so choose a good one. Paste is better than powder. That say, I like fresh wasashi much more, less imposing and more fragrances.
Here is a link that might help.
Most of the powders and tubed stuff are Western horseradish with food coloring, sometimes a little hot mustard, and random additives (the purpose of which I think is mostly “functional” rather than contributing to their flavor). IMX, the powders are all pretty fungible, but I agree with Saregama that S&B is the most popular, and among the tubed versions, S&B’s “Gold” version has at least some true wasabi.
(I don’t know if it’s something you want to deal with trying to find right now, but there are also frozen versions - sometimes 100% true wasabi, sometimes mixed with Western horseradish, that are usually better than the tubes. I sometimes see them locally, but there used to be a domestic grower/packer in the PNW, too. It’s expensive, and of course expensive to have it shipped, but it is another - probably longer-term - option.)
I’d always read that true wasabi didn’t dry very well, and one very rarely saw it for sale at all. But I see at least a couple of powders on Amazon that do claim to be 100% wasabi, so I’d try one of those if I were in the market for it right now. They’re expensive, but not prohibitively so, and true wasabi does taste noticeably different than the “standard” horseradish-based powder. (Though whether it would make a really noticeable difference as an “ingredient” I don’t know.)
Not being at all familiar with any of them, I’d probably go with one that has a lot of reviews, mostly positive, even though I usually trust Amazon reviews about as much as I trust random blog posts… (Not because I think they’re fraudulent - mostly- but because I think they’re just not very reliable.)
The Wasabi Store in Oregon sells fresh and powdered wasabi, available for shipping. The powdered wasabi is pure, no horseradish or color fillers. The fresh is pricey but high quality and stays fresh wrapped in plastic for several weeks in the refrigerator.
This looks good. How do you like it compared to fresh or paste wasabi?
Wow! I want to be a certified seasoning sommelier!
The powder is quite good, much better than the imitation wasabi paste. The powder though doesn’t really compete with fresh wasabi which is in another class.
Funny, I prefer the powder since the powder I can ultimately decide the consistency. I prefer my wasabi to be of a play doh consistency, so I can shape/form it for decorative purposes. The paste is well too pasty and you can’t form it etc. I also like to make it as potent as possible and I find the powder in the play doh consistency seems to offer more punch to it hen the paste. S & B is the most common powder I’ve used.
OK, given good powder, I will probably be convinced. For me, my concern is certain flavours are lost in the dehydration process when compared to pastes that contains the real plant.
You see, I don’t play with food. 
Usually, I apply the minimum.
You wouldn’t prefer to be served this with your sushi?
Nice, but I never need that much of wasabi in food!
That’s pretty cool. At home (or mooched off my fellow diners at restaurants), I like wasabi with other things, but not being a fan of raw fish, I don’t see as much of it served at Japanese restaurants as I otherwise might. But having seen that photo, I’m a little surprised that I’ve never seen wasabi served like that at a restaurant. Given the Japanese penchant for somewhat decorative plating (though usually more “practical” than the High Art of the Thais), that would seem to be almost a no-brainer…
Leftover rice with soy sauce and butter has been one of my favorite things since I was a kid.
This impelled me to read the labels of my wasabi products. Turns out they were all horseradish. I read the article and noted the Kameya brand. Our upscale food store was open today for the first time in 6 weeks, and I found a tube of Kameya Original. I’m not sure it’s the same one in the article, but it’s 40% wasabi. We’ll try it later tonight.
Yes, compare this with the horseradish paste!
It got me through college…
The horseradish paste was one-dimensional, even though it was labeled ‘wasabi style’. The Kameya was much more complex in taste. I made a sauce for pan-fried salmon based on the foodgal recipe above, and it was very good.
My daughter likes to do pasta with butter, soy sauce and a bit of grated parm. Umami bomb!
I currently have these, one of which is horseradish.
That one just doesn’t pass mustard 
, maybe because it’s old.
I ended up using the SB today which was just about right ( if coughing up a lung is any measure).
