I have what could probably be described as a higher-than-American-average tolerance to wasabi (or a masochistic complex – I also “enjoy” hot sauces), but every once in a while, I have taken a bite and shortly thereafter had an experience very much like this one:
Cannot say as though I would ever mistake it for pudding, though…
I did have a friend who mistook it for some type of mint-paste, and popped the whole chunk in his mouth at the end of the meal. (He chose to try out sushi on his own first, without any of the rest of us accompanying him).
As best I can tell, the family of chemicals that give wasabi its properties are soluble in alcohols, so one should always have a ready supply of sake on hand when eating sushi.
My first time at a sushi restaurant, I was completely ignorant of wasabi, and presumed it was some sort of Japanese guacamole. Despite that initial overdose, I am most fond that heavenly green horseradish paste.
@ Robert: I imagine he will not be making that mistake again…
@ AuricTech: Now that I did not know… And here I thought sushi and sake went together just because!
@ Link P: …and as soon as his friends picked him up off the ceiling, he dug right back in! The stuff will definitely nail you if you get too much, but it tastes so damn good…
Go to any authentic Thai restaurant and ask for an off menu order of war-hat-bo with phrik khii nuu (those are phonetic. I do not know the correct spelling. Make sure to order LOTS of thai iced tea to go with it. If you (non-thai only) can eat a serving without dying, I believe your meal is free. Expect sweating to begin after the first mouthful.
Even I, with my love for habaneros and wasabi, know better than to screw around with Thai food… Tried that once, I think my mouth still remembers it, and I know other orifices do…
I adore Wasabi, but I’ve never taken a regrettable size bite of it. There was a sushi bar in Dallas (closed now, sadly) that made a Devil Roll which fairly oozed a demonically hot yellow-orange mustard, one bite of which would singe the very hairs out of the nose with its furnace-blast(or so I’m told by people who have hairy noses). You’d swear your breathing passages were swelling shut and then, after about 45 seconds, the hurt went away, and then you took another bite. After much study, I determined the least painful way to eat this delicious roll was in one swell foop without taking drinks in between. Yum. Ouch. But mostly yum.
There are definitely some asian foods that should be consumed as quickly as humanly possible… and then followed by a quick drowning in whatever nearby liquid you happen to have
. But that is what makes them as enjoyable as they are!