Pear Wasabi Salad Dressing
A Perfect Pear

The aroma is piquant but rich. There’s a lot going on with this dressing. Let’s take a look. Here are the ingredients: organic pear puree, organic rice vinegar, organic expeller pressed safflower oil, wasabi (wasabi, horseradish, mustard), ginger, sake, Xanthum gum, lemon juice concentrate, pink peppercorns and red pepper flakes.

The first taste is lemony pear and then the slightest, most subtle taste of wasabi. The name of this dressing is absolutely accurate, but what you don’t know until you taste it, is how delicate it is. This is not a knock-your-socks-off dressing even if the piquant fragrance might lead you to believe it is. This exceptionally subtle dressing literally got lost on a salad of lettuce, tomato, cucumber and carrot shreds, but I know it would sing on delicate butter lettuce or on a small oriental composed salad. The owner must have approached this dressing from that restrained viewpoint, as her recommendations are to serve it over greens with pear slices and toasted tortilla chips, as well as using it as a dipping sauce for tempura, pot stickers and egg rolls.

In a 12-ounce bottle, the color is pale opaque gold. Small flecks of red pass by when you shake it, which must be the red pepper flakes. I don’t distinguish any heat, for those who might be afraid of the pepper word… it just adds a depth to the flavor. Delicate, sophisticated and unusual are the best words for this dressing. With a pretty label of three ripe pears on a lovely branch, this is a subtle yet complex standout from the kick-ass dressings found on grocery store shelves. If you like Asian influences, you’ll like this dressing.