A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by a Canadian company which sells WAFU® Japanese Vinaigrette to see if I’m interested in sampling their dressing. The funny thing is this dressing is actually one of my husband’s favorites, so I happily accepted the offer. This review is based on our own experience and we did not get any compensation from the company other than a dozen of free samples.
WAFU Japanese Vinaigrette comes in four flavors: Original, Original Light (43% less fat than Original), Ginger Carrot, and Wasabi Edamame.
To fully enjoy these salad dressings, I prepared my typical Japanese salad: Iceberg lettuce, sliced cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, sliced hard boiled eggs, wakame (seaweed), and kaiware daikon (Daikon radish sprouts).
We had previously tried Original flavor when my husband bought them from the Asian markets. One day, he was really craving the salad dressing Japanese restaurants in our area serve (typically on the salad with lunch and dinner specials). He was really happy he found off-the-shelf dressing that tasted similar. The Original dressing is very tasty. It’s creamy and not too tangy. If you don’t like sour dressings, you don’t have to worry about that. We actually like a little bit of sourness in our dressings, but we still enjoy this dressing very much.
Then we moved on to Ginger Carrot flavor. We never tried this flavor before so we were very excited to try this one out. The dressing has beautiful orange color from the carrot and looks very appetizing on fresh greens. We poured this over on the same Japanese salad and surprisingly the taste was also recognizable. It’s the same or similar flavor as the salad quite a few Japanese restaurants also serve. I could definitely taste the ginger flavor but it’s not too strong that it overpowers the carrot. It’s a great match from these two ingredients.
Lastly we tried Wasabi Edamame. If you are my frequent readers of my blog, you all know that my husband and I don’t like wasabi. I know, I know, I might be the only Japanese grownup who refuses to eat wasabi when I eat sushi. Am I missing it out? It’s okay, I really don’t like the taste… But the first two dressings were really delicious so I tried Wasabi Edamame. Hm… I “can” eat it, so wasabi is not as strong as eating regular wasabi. But let’s just say I rather stay out of the wasabi flavor. Edamame definitely made the wasabi taste milder, but if you don’t like wasabi, you definitely can sense it’s in the dressing.
Over all, we love the dressing very much, even the Light healthy version of the Original flavor. All these dressings are very creamy, yet they are surprisingly not heavy at all. The consistency of the cream is very thin, so the silky texture goes around the salad nicely and it’s just the right amount of tanginess and sweetness. Since we enjoyed these dressing so much, I thought I should share some of the dressing that I received from the company since I could easily buy more from my nearest Japanese and Chinese supermarkets that I go often (They’re not widely available in the US yet, but if you’re in California you can find them in Japanese and Korean stores and in the San Francisco area. Molly Stone’s will be carrying them. You can also order on amazon.com.).
YOU could win one of two sets of WAFU® Japanese Vinaigrette: one (1) set of Original (Light) & Ginger Carrot or one (1) set of Original (Light) & Wasabi Edamame.
To enter, please leave a comment on this post. This giveaway is WORLDWIDE and expires on Sunday, March 4th, 2012 at 12:00 pm PST. Entries that do not meet the entry requirement will not be considered. Winners will be selected by random.org and announced in the post on Monday, March 5th.
Full disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by yours truly.
Wonderful review, Nami! Sounds like a really good product and I would love to try it!
I don’t think I have seen this brand of dressing here but the flavors sound interesting. Most Japanese restaurant dressings here taste similar. They must use the same kind of dressing available out there. 🙂
Wow what a beautiful dressing! Look so creamy 🙂
That edamame dressing sounds delicious 🙂 I’ve not heard of these dressings before. I’m almost positive we can’t get it in Cayman because I’d have been all over these! Great giveaway 🙂
You can find WAFU dressings in the Cayman Islands at Foster’s Food Fair (www.fosters-iga.com/).
Hi Nami,
I don’t want to participate in the giveaway, I just wanted to tell you that your photos are lovely 🙂
Dear Nami,
I’ve always liked a wafu steak with that tangy dressing. It seems to bring out the best flavours in so many different dishes!
I’m not sure I would be able to find those dressings here.. Anyway salad looks really fresh and yummy!
Lovely vinaigrettes! I’m sure I’d love them. Very interesting sounding. I’m intrigued….
Cheers,
Rosa
The descriptions of the flavors of the dressings made my mouth water. The photo’s make me want a salad, NOW! thank you for sharing, Debra
I’ve never seen this brand in the Asian supermarkets around NYC area. But I love the salad dressing from Japanese restaurant! I am not which one of those flavors is the one I love (sesame with a hint of sour and sweet) perhaps it’s the original! Would love to find. Thanks for the giveaway!
Yi:
You can find WAFU dressings in New York at Fairway Markets (Kosher section), Union Markets, Mitsuwa, Fujimart, Sunrise Markets and H Mart. You will also be able to buy them soon at Food Emporium.
I’ve always wondered about these dressings so I’m glad you posted this review.
I’m Japanese-American and don’t like wasabi either, so you’re not alone. 🙂
Wow, I didn’t even realize that a company made the dressing found in Japanese restaurants! I love me a salad and really enjoy that type of dressing! I’ll be looking for it at Mollie Stone’s!
I would like to try these dressings as we always have salads. (P.S. Love your blogs and recipes!)
Wasabi! Wasabi! Wasabi! I don’t know why you dislike it, Nami (and yes I do believe you’re missing out, hee), but I love love wasabi! Haha!
These sound delicious! I would love to try the light one!