After lunch, purchased one pouch of Royal Orchids Wasabi Coated Green Peas — “A Happy Present from the Earth.” Recent controversy in LiveJournal indicates that people either view wasabi peas as some form of hell-spawn or as a simple tasty treat.
After failing to open the packet via the provided tear-off mechanism, resorted to scissors. Inserted one green and beige wasabi pea into mouth and sucked. First, brief impression was of sweetness. This sensation lasted approximately one second but was quickly supplanted with the familiar “blinding sheet of pain racing up the front of my face” sting of wasabi. However, unlike wasabi paste sting, the sting of the pea was extremely short lived. After crunching into the pea, its own nutty, bready flavor combined with both the sweetness and the wasabi. The combined flavor experience was very pleasant.
I have now eaten several dozen of the suckers, and will likely consume the entire bag by 3:00 if someone doesn’t stop by to share them with me, and if I don’t start bleeding from the gums (whichever comes first).
Verdict: Wonderfully intriguing mixed flavor experience, recommended either as a zesty snack or as a plucky conversation starter.
mmmmmm . . . I LOVE wasabi! Wasabi peas are wonderful! I love to just eat wasabi paste. It is delicious spread all over sashimi. Now you have me craving it!
I just tried Wasabi Peas today! What a great snack. I have found, at least for my mouth, that they taste best when crunched up quickly with the molars on the side of the mouth. The taste is much more nutty and a little less hot that way. When eaten with the center of the mouth, they have a sligtly sweeter, less nutty, but much more spicy flavor.
I just bought some wasabi peas on eBay. I can’t wait to try them. I hope I like them because I bought 5 lbs!!