Wasabi mayo is delicious on grilled salmon, salmon cakes or deep-fried oysters (and most any other seafood). Try perking up anything that uses mayonnaise, such as deviled eggs, tuna salad sandwiches, or the po’boy sandwiches below. This mayo recipe eliminates today’s problems with raw eggs and possible salmonella because the egg base is heated before emulsifying it into mayonnaise. Serve this over grilled tuna or other fish.

Ingredients

• 2 large egg yolks

• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

• 2 tablespoons water

• ½ teaspoon sugar

• 1 teaspoon dry mustard

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup vegetable oil

• 1 tablespoons prepared wasabi paste

Instructions

Have a bowl of cold water handy. Place the egg yolks, lemon juice, water, and sugar in a small pan and heat over very low heat, while stirring constantly. If the mixture starts to thicken, immediately remove it from the heat, but continue stirring. Dip the bottom of the pan into the cold water to stop the mixture from cooking.

Scrape the mixture into a blender and let it cool for at least five minutes. Add the dry mustard and salt. Cover the blender and turn it on. With the blender running, slowly drizzle the oil in a very thin stream, allowing the blender to emulsify the sauce. Stop the blender. Add the wasabi. Pulse or blend the mayonnaise just long enough to thoroughly incorporate the wasabi. Refrigerated, this mayonnaise should keep at least a week.

In 1969, our Canadian neighbors in Calgary invented the Caesar Cocktail to celebrate a new restaurant. The drink now consistently ranks in the top ten favorites. With the addition of wasabi, this recipe takes the Bloody Caesar to where no drink has gone before.

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon wasabi paste

• 1.5 ounces vodka

• Lime wedge

• Celery salt to taste

• Salt to taste

• Ice

• 6 ounces Mott’s Clamato Juice

• Freshly ground black pepper to taste

• Dash of hot sauce of choice

• Dash Worcestershire sauce

• Celery stalk

Instructions

Place the wasabi in small bowl. Pour in vodka and stir until blended. Rub a highball glass rim with the lime wedge, celery salt, and salt. Add ice. Pour the vodka mixture into the glass. Add the Clamato, pepper, hot sauce, and Worcestershire. Squeeze the lime wedge into the glass. Stir and garnish with celery stalk.

I’m winging it here, as Doug Gibson, of course, had no written recipe. I watched carefully but am guesstimating the ingredient amounts. But what the hell, he was cooking on the beach! The conch does not burn, it just turns quite dark because of the seasoning.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

• 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary

• 1 onion, minced

• ½ green bell pepper, finely diced

• 2 tablespoons commercial blackening seasoning

• 1 goat pepper (habanero) seeds and stems removed, minced

• ½ teaspoon sea salt

• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

• 2 conchs, pounded flat and cut in half

• Lime quarters for garnish

Instructions

In a large skillet, heat the vegetable oil until hot and add the rosemary, onion, and bell pepper and saute for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the blackening seasoning, goat pepper, sea salt, and black pepper and saute for 2 more minutes. Add the conch pieces, 2 at a time, and cook over high heat until they turn dark, about 2 or 3 minutes per side. Remove and serve garnished with lime quarters.