The Secret Ingredient (Wasabi): Wasabi Chocolate Pudding Recipe

By
Kerry Saretsky
a photograph of Kerry Seretsky, a contributing writer at Serious Eats.

Kerry Saretsky interned at Serious Eats in 2008, and wrote the French in a Flash recipe column. She also writes her own blog on modernized French cuisine called French Revolution Food.

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Updated August 09, 2018
20091121WasabiPudding.jpg
Kerry Saretsky


Spice and chocolate have become so frequently seen together in recent years that I was not surprised when I spotted chocolate and jalapeno gelato the other day in the freezer section. It was this revved-up sweet-hot union that I wanted to explore using wasabi—a different kind of heat, but heat all the same.

This recipe began more as a kitchen experiment than a traditional recipe development, but I was so surprised that I kept it for this column. I use something gourmet enough, wasabi powder, to add a boom-kick-pow to something quite a lot less gourmet—powdered instant chocolate pudding.

To deepen the chocolate flavor I add quite a bit of dark, unsweetened Dutch cocoa and brighten the flavor with lime zest and, to add that delayed, unexpected heat, the wasabi.

This recipe makes it hot—and hotter if it sits overnight—so consider this recipe a guideline, not a rulebook. Your family won't know what hit them!

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Recipe Details

The Secret Ingredient (Wasabi): Wasabi Chocolate Pudding Recipe

Prep 10 mins
Chilling Time 8 hrs
Total 8 hrs 10 mins
Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

  • One (5.9-ounce) packet instant chocolate pudding
  • 3 cups whole milk
  • 3/4 cups Dutch cocoa
  • 2 tablespoons wasabi powder
  • Zest of 2 limes

Directions

  1. Whisk everything together, spoon into your serving glasses or ramekins, cover with plastic wrap so that the wrap is in contact with the pudding to prevent a skin, and refrigerate overnight. Top with a dash of wasabi powder before serving.

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