Can anyone figure out how this Wagamama sauce ended up...boring????

M

marilynfl

Moderator
Last fall, we had an amazing lunch at Wagamamas in Cambridge and I bought Larry their cookbook for Chrismas this year. We made our first recipe last week and it was astonishingly...bland. Not at all the vibrant tastes we remembered.

I found a copy online of the version I made from their cookbook and linked that for the data.

Every single ingredient sounds fresh and zippy, right? So why? Why? WHY??? did the combination end up tasting just so-so?

This link mentions how spicy it is, but the recipe only specifies 1 chili (I used two dried Thai chili) and 1 TBL of sweet chili sauce. I don't know about that poster, but I kept reading the recipe over and over, looking for more chili-ness. I mean, the key noun/adjective in the title is chilli (sic), for heaven's sake.

I even used fresh lemongrass stalks from my dimininishing stash in the back yard.

Served it over soba noodles with grilled shrimp.

So sad. Not bad, just not thrilling, which is what I was expecting/hoping for. Wouldn't bother with it again unless I can figure out how to make the flavors sing a little more. No...a LOT more. I'm talking Kira Te Kanawa bursting out of her bustier! more!!

Oh, and it even needed a bit of salt! Go figure that one.

(FYI: Wagamamas is Japanese...not Chinese, as we had thought}

http://foodstuff.tumblr.com/post/38566717/wagamama-chilli-sauce

 
It sounds like they didn't add all the inger.

I would try
2 Thai chilies
1 TBSP Dark soy sauce
a bit more garlic
What about Hosin sauce start with 1/2 tsp
maybe some rice vinegar

Just trying to add some idea's
What flavors stood out

 
Only thing I can think is that it's due to the difference b/w dried chile and fresh. Also,

since the restaurant probably makes it in vast quantities and stores it for a day or so, I imagine it's probably a little hotter on-site, just due to that...

The version of the recipe I'm linking two uses more lemongrass and another chile, FWIW.

http://sharonmoh.com/2011/01/wagamama-chilli-sauce-recipe/

 
Here's my story... I decided to be the good DIL today and suggested to meet my in-laws

at the Asian market. It is about 1/2 way point. I have a full list to make the wagamama sauce. Partly because I think it is a fun name, and partly because it sounded like a fun dish. Anyway, the store ended up being closed for Chinese New Year!!! Oh Well!! We ended up eating at Applebees and MIL and FIL thought it was a good time that we could get together next week.

 
Thanks carol & Erin....I'm going to give it one more try. We both

thought it was boring, but both of us cleared our bowls. So some magic is there, calling to us. I just need to jazz it up a bit.

PS: I always thought dried chilies were hotter than fresh. That'll teach me.

 
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