Tonight we will be trying out another relatively inexpensive caviar. We will be having wasabi flavored capelin. Capelin is also known as Masago for those of you who might be familiar with it from eating sushi. The capelin we will having tonight is from Iceland. This jars retails in the $5-10 range.
For sushi, we’ve ordered hamachi sashimi, tuna poke, and a spicy tuna roll for takeout. Ali, Christina, and I will be mixing it up with the sushi and roe. First up, as always, is tasting it pure off the hand.
The reason that we always try the caviar off the hand first is to benchmark it. This helps us compare it to other caviars we’ve tried without being influenced by external flavors.
Doing this first off also allows see how our other culinary experiments affect the taste of the caviar. This helps us discover our own palette of likes and dislikes.
Starting out with the hamachi sashimi and a dallop of caviar on top is a great start. Immediately the contrast of the almost crunchy caviar and the soft yet firm yellowtail tuna jumps out at me. Christina notices how she can hear Ali’s crunching from across the room.
From a flavor perspective, the wasabi flavoring in this caviar is very subtle. For those wondering, it’s not anywhere close to the strength of the real wasabi that we add to our soy sauce. The roe combined with the hamachi (no soy sauce) produce a clean, crisp flavor with a light wasabi and horseradish finish. I also try it together with a little soy sauce on top.
After finishing up with the hamachi, we all try a little of the tuna poke. The poke itself has some spice which is enough to overwhelm the wasabi in the roe. The flavor of the caviar is lost a little bit in this dish for me although I’m a big fan of the pop that it brings.
Christina and I are taking a self imposed break from rice for a bit so Ali is the only one that gets to try the spicy tuna roll with a touch of green. He definitely wants everyone to know that it’s working quite well together. The addition of the texture is also a big hit with Ali.
After this, we all finish up with a little dessert. We’ve picked up some prosciutto that we wrap around some apple slices.
-matt
Plaza Caviar Blog 
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