You know that feeling you get when you accidentally gulp down too much wasabi, that white-hot fire blazing through your mouth and up your nose? Well, I like that feeling.
Now, I don’t coat everything with wasabi, and when I do use it, I try to use moderate amounts, but when I accidentally over-smear a vegetable roll or inari with too much of the green paste, I find the momentary shock to my sinuses refreshing.
But fear not: You don’t have to be heat-crazed to enjoy this ridiculously easy asparagus recipe. In fact, I was a little disappointed to find that my wasabi powder had gotten old and lost most of its heat. Since I had to keep adding it by the teaspoon to get the flavor right, I don’t have a firm amount to tell you to use, but then again, I probably wouldn’t have risked suggesting an amount anyway. We’re all different, and some of us like to breathe fire more than others.
The standard disclaimer applies: Use more if you like it hot, less if you like it mild. This tender, savory asparagus makes an excellent side dish or appetizer, but to be honest with you, I ate the entire recipe as a snack. With my fingers.
Wasabi-Roasted Asparagus
Ingredients
- 1 bunch asparagus (12-16 ounces)
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce or tamari
- 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
- wasabi powder or paste (to taste)
- coarse kosher salt (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 F. Wash asparagus, snap off tough bottoms of spears, and arrange it on a baking sheet.
- Mix water, soy sauce, and sesame oil in a small bowl. Add wasabi, starting with 1/4 teaspoon and increasing until the mixture is as spicy as you want it. Brush the wasabi mixture over the asparagus, being sure to coat all sides.
- Roast until asparagus is tender but still crisp, about 10-15 minutes, turning once halfway through. Serve sprinkled with kosher salt, if desired.
Nutritional info is approximate.
SusanV
Here are the comments that were posted before the blog moved (people who actually made the recipe are in bold):
Anonymoussaid…
looks so good, i’m new to this blog and i’m having the greatest time reading your recipes. i’ve been working hard to keep variety in my vegan diet but it’s hard to not just go back to stir fry over and over. these recipes are AMAZING, thanks so much for them!
4:56 PM, April 16, 2009
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Allen of EOL said…
I bet the wasabi heat goes nicely with the sweet asparagus – thanks for the idea. I’ve been meaning to pick up some asparagus and this is all the more reason to do so 🙂
6:00 PM, April 16, 2009
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shelby said…
I lurveeeee hot wasabi! And asparagus =) What a perfect match!
6:04 PM, April 16, 2009
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Amy said…
Sounds delish. I bet this would be awesome cut up than rolled into sushi. I love asparagus. Plan to try this soon.
6:12 PM, April 16, 2009
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jodye said…
I love wasabi, but I can’t stand overpowering heat in a dish. This looks excellent!
6:42 PM, April 16, 2009
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OpenID tygerlilly said…
I LOVE the heat in wasabi!! I never feel like I’m eating enough until my nose starts to run 😉 Thanks for this recipe ~ Asparagus is one of my faves!
6:51 PM, April 16, 2009
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Romina (La Cucina Vegan) said…
Love the use of the wasabi. I have a big thing of wasabi powder and never know many ways to use it.
7:14 PM, April 16, 2009
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YankeeScents said…
Mmm, this sounds great. I’m afraid wasabi isn’t a huge hit with other members of the household, but I love it and will definitely “clip” this to try. Thanks!
7:41 PM, April 16, 2009
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Alisa – Frugal Foodie said…
No better way to clear the sinuses than wasabi! Who needs decongestant.
One question though, does the wasabi powder lose potency when cooked? The flavor always seems to be quite fragile.
9:45 PM, April 16, 2009
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SusanV said…
Alisa, I think it does lose potency the longer it cooks, but with just 10 minutes of roasting, it’s still pretty potent. You can also save some of the wasabi mixture to brush on after it’s cooked. (I had enough left over to do that.)
10:14 PM, April 16, 2009
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Alyssa F. said…
Ohhh my (insert diety of choice here)! This looks absolutely delicious, and I just happened to buy a fresh bunch of asparagus. I have a hard time finding unique ingredients here in my heat-fearing small Canadian town but I’m so going to the health food store tomorrow to see if I can dig up some wasabi. Like you Susan, I like mine HOT! You’re awesome.
10:16 PM, April 16, 2009
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Phoenix said…
Oooh, I can’t wait to try this! Actually, I had a dreadfully bland asparagus risotto earlier this week, so something hot is just what I need to reconsole myself to these veggies… ;))
1:03 AM, April 17, 2009
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DJ Karma (VegSpinz) said…
My husband likes to eat his sushi with a thick paste of wasabi and a wee little soy sauce. Most of us think he’s crazy, but he LOVES it!
1:33 AM, April 17, 2009
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Mihl said…
What an amzazing recipe!
3:04 AM, April 17, 2009
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Netty said…
I am glad that I found your blog, very interesting and healthy vegan recipes.
5:01 AM, April 17, 2009
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Mo said…
Good wasabi is like crack – so addicting! This looks like a winner, can’t wait to make it!
11:49 AM, April 17, 2009
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OpenID heiditfm said…
I have a bag of green beans from our veggie co-op, and I’m wondering if this recipe might work? Any suggestions or feedback?
11:57 AM, April 17, 2009
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DeAnna said…
I’m more on the mild side of wasabi, but I just happen to have bought yesterday so I’m going to try this. Yum!
12:22 PM, April 17, 2009
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Melomeals: Vegan for $3.33 a Day said…
YUM! I love the wasabi sinus burn too.
2:21 PM, April 17, 2009
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dreaminitvegan said…
That sounds really good! As someone mentioned, rolling this up in a veggie sushi roll, rock on!
2:58 PM, April 17, 2009
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BurningTongue!Yeah! said…
If you can’t find wasabi, use horseradish: they’re closely related.
3:02 PM, April 17, 2009
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LadyRachelLynn said…
This sounds awesome. Too bad I can’t have any. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I love wasabi, and I love asparagus. I can get my DH to eat asparagus, but not wasabi. I can’t get either past my daughter, though she eats almost everything else vegetable related. I’m sure the 2 year old son would love it though, he’s like me about food.
I wanted to mention that I am heatcrazed. At our passover seder, we sat at family style tables, and our family had extra chairs so had other non family members with us. I was the ONLY person to take seconds on the horshradish LOL. I find that intense, can’t-breathe, system-on-a-4-alarm-fire moment absolutely exhilerating! Very refreshing to say the least!
Thanks for sharing this and allowing me the pleasure to daydream of asparagus eating kids….
3:13 PM, April 17, 2009
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A_and_N said…
Susan, you’ve really put me in a dliemma here. I LOVE asparagus but dont like wasabi too much. Interesting combination though 🙂
3:29 PM, April 17, 2009
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Marinda said…
So I’ve been reading your blog the last couple of weeks and I absolutely love it! It is so exciting to realize that I can be a vegan, follow Eat to Live and still enjoy good food! Your photographs are beautiful and totally make the blog for me. I consider good pictures a “must have” for cook books/blogs.
Thanks for all your hard work. I think my dream is to some day sit in your kitchen and sample everything you make!
3:52 PM, April 17, 2009
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Mary said…
Nothing like wasabi to clear up spring allergies. This sounds like it would be fantastic with some broiled tofu. Thanks for the recipe!
6:10 PM, April 17, 2009
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Kalyn said…
Sounds like a brilliant combo to me. I love wasabi, and although I can be a bit of a wimp with some hot sauce, with wasabi, I can take quite a bit of it!
6:26 PM, April 17, 2009
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Maria said…
Great way to jazz up asparagus!
6:28 PM, April 17, 2009
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kellypea said…
I totally understand that sinus cavity cleansing burn. Yee-haw. What a terrific idea, this recipe. So much flavor packed into an amazingly simple dish.
6:35 PM, April 17, 2009
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Jennifer said…
I just made roasted asparagus the other day and loved it! great recipe.
8:21 PM, April 17, 2009
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Vegetation said…
Roasted asparagus is absolutely up there among my favourite veggies. This sounds fabulous!
12:46 AM, April 18, 2009
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Elyse said…
There’s nothing like a little asparagus to help clear out the sinuses. These asparagus look AMAZING. I totally would’ve gobbled them up as a snack, too. Yum.
12:51 AM, April 18, 2009
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uk chefs forum said…
Fabulous – thanks for this. Cant wait to try.
4:48 AM, April 18, 2009
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Cleo said…
We eat asparagus a lot and I often splash it with a little soy sauce and sesame oil, but never thought to add wasabi. Genius! I made this version last night and it was deee-lish.
Thanks for another great recipe!
7:54 AM, April 18, 2009
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Manuela © said…
Never heard about wasabi powder or paste. But the roasted asparagus sound delicious. I love ridiculously easy recipes 🙂
6:08 PM, April 18, 2009
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Peace, Love and Veganism said…
Love asparagus and love wasabi! What a great combination!
3:14 PM, April 19, 2009
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Watercolor said…
Not sure I could take that much wasabi…. but maybe if just a tiny touch…..
5:06 PM, April 19, 2009
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Jennifer said…
I love both of those things…
Wasabi, fantastic!!!
7:26 PM, April 19, 2009
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Jackie said…
Never thought of having wasabi with asparagus so will definitely give it a bash as I love both of them.
12:42 AM, April 20, 2009
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RecipeGirl said…
Ha ha- I kinda like that feeling too. I’m craving asparagus this AM with those beautiful pics!
7:59 AM, April 20, 2009
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VeganWino said…
This looks delicious and I’m going to try tonight! Just thought I’d tell you that we call it ‘wasabi head’ when you get that rush from a little too much!!
6:16 AM, April 21, 2009
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A said…
Looks so yummy!!!!!!!!
-A
http://kubiclekitchen.blogspot.com/
11:40 AM, April 21, 2009
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Kumudha said…
I’m now craving asparagus…
11:54 AM, April 21, 2009
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Anonymous said…
wow, this was a home run in my house. i love love love wasabi, so after following this recipe, i tried it again with a lot more wasabi and just soy sauce (about a 50/50 mix). my sinuses were clear for hours! thanks for the great new dish!!
2:22 PM, April 24, 2009
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Diane-TheWHOLEGang said…
I love asparagus and this looks so delicious. I would love for you to post a link on my Friday Foodie Fix from last week where the secret ingredient was asparagus. http://thewholegang.typepad.com/blog/2009/04/friday-foodie-fix-asparagus.html
I’d love for my readers to find your great recipes. At the end of the month I’ll also do a recap so people will see the links again. This week’s secret ingredient is strawberries. Hope you’ll join in.
9:03 AM, April 29, 2009
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Elessar said…
oh, you are *such* a temptress, Susan. this use oof asparagus, wasabi, tamari et alia would be *perfect me, but anathema for my partner. we get wasabi-coated nuts and tiny potato puff pellets over here…and i love them. the wasabi tickles my nose for a brief time but others try them and have to run to a sink! I think I have cultivate different friends (Hee hee). I just shipped 7 jars of home made hot sauces to a guy in the USA..cost me £58 to ship a small carton. Grr.
8:51 AM, May 01, 2009
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katherine said…
i made this and the artichoke tapenade for a party friday night. both were so good…but the asparagus was gone in minutes! im thinking i may even make it again tonight.
7:59 AM, May 04, 2009
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Pille said…
I’ll definitely try this, Susan!!
2:56 AM, May 25, 2009
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beckiwithani said…
Fantastically good! I definitely did quite a bit of eating with my fingers before any made it to my plate. Thank you!
7:19 PM, June 17, 2009
Ana
Great!
It’s essay and with a new and fresh flavour. I really enjoyed it. Thanks a lot!
Christopher Kandrat
Asparagus is my fav veggie, the Wasabi brought new flavor, it was amazing, thank you!
Theresa
This sounds yummy! Cant wait to try to real thing, but for now since all I have in the house are fresh greenbeans Im going to try it with that, since I love all of the ingredients, Im betting this way it will be good too!
shirley
This was easy to prepare and totally delicious.
Jen
made this today and it was very easy and good. Instead of sesame oil I used Tahini. I used 1/4 teaspoon of wasabi paste but I couldn’t taste any spice really. I think next time I will double the wasabi and save some extra mixture to pour on after they are done roasting. Thanks for the recipe!
Stephanie Watson
OH man, I LOVE HOT. Do you have a link to just the hot dishes?
Susan Voisin
I’ve never thought of making a list of just the spicy dishes, Stephanie. Good idea! But I have so many that it could be a very long list.
orthohawk
got the first cheap asparagus of the season yesterday, and as per usual just grabbed it without thinking what to do with it. got home and looked on your blog to find something easy and delish………the first four wouldn’t work (too complicated) and there it was. Alas! no wasabi! but I did have some chinese mustard so used that instead. not quite the same but yummy nonetheless! I’ll have to get some wasabi powder to try this again before the season ends!
Shellie
Just made this tonight. Outstanding. Thanks. 🙂