WASABI!
I love Wasabi! Or at least I thought I did. Let me
try to explain...
I have spent many years going to Japanese restaurants
and sushi bars because I love fresh food and raw fish
and I love dipping my fish in Wasabi. I loved the way
the powerful stuff cleared my sinuses and made my
eyes water... I loved the way it made my stomach feel
all nice and toasty. I love the fact that I can "take it"
when my wimpy friends can only put a small amount
on their foods and then get a weirdly painful look on
their faces when they actually got a hit of the stuff on
their palates.
Or at least I love dipping my food in the green paste
which comes with the food. I found out recently through
a lot of articles I read that what we believe is Wasabi is
actually mostly horseradish mixed with a very small
amount of Wasabi and then colored green.
Wasabi is expensive, it used to be that it only grew in
the cold mountain streams of Japan and nobody had
figured out how to grow it in commercial amounts so
that real Wasabi would cost you about $60.00 a kilo
(rather dear price don't you think?) and it came with
its own armed guard. This has led most restaurants to
use the green powder which they CALL Wasabi to save
some money.
Recently, however, a man in Oregon discovered how to
grow these cute green tubers hydroponically in huge
vats of cold water with nutrients in it. He grows a huge
amount of these tubers and he's making a fortune selling
the stuff to Japanese restaurants all over the world
(including Japan). He even has a farm called Pacific Farms
and a the link posted leads to his website where he will sell
fresh Wasabi by mail to almost anywhere in the USA by
mail-order.
Being a bit of a food snob, I purchased some fresh Wasabi
and bragged to my friends that I was going to be eating
"The Real Stuff" the next time I went to a Japanese
restaurant. I became a bore on the subject and I'm sure
my friend wished I had never heard of the stuff.
So I went to a Japanese restaurant recently and took my
fresh Wasabi with me. I mixed the Wasabi paste with soy
sauce and put it in my dipping dish and I sat back in
anticipation of a great eating experience.
And so, I discovered that I don't really like the "real"
Wasabi nearly as much as I like the green paste which the
restaurants serve. It has more flavor, it is easier to get to
"stick" to the morsels of sushi and sashimi, and it isn't
nearly as bitter as real Wasabi. Maybe it's an acquired
taste. After all, it took me years to appreciate the power
of the fake Wasabi, maybe I need time.
One thing is truly for sure, my friends won't get any more
boring lectures on "Real Wasabi" from me for awhile.
try to explain...
I have spent many years going to Japanese restaurants
and sushi bars because I love fresh food and raw fish
and I love dipping my fish in Wasabi. I loved the way
the powerful stuff cleared my sinuses and made my
eyes water... I loved the way it made my stomach feel
all nice and toasty. I love the fact that I can "take it"
when my wimpy friends can only put a small amount
on their foods and then get a weirdly painful look on
their faces when they actually got a hit of the stuff on
their palates.
Or at least I love dipping my food in the green paste
which comes with the food. I found out recently through
a lot of articles I read that what we believe is Wasabi is
actually mostly horseradish mixed with a very small
amount of Wasabi and then colored green.
Wasabi is expensive, it used to be that it only grew in
the cold mountain streams of Japan and nobody had
figured out how to grow it in commercial amounts so
that real Wasabi would cost you about $60.00 a kilo
(rather dear price don't you think?) and it came with
its own armed guard. This has led most restaurants to
use the green powder which they CALL Wasabi to save
some money.
Recently, however, a man in Oregon discovered how to
grow these cute green tubers hydroponically in huge
vats of cold water with nutrients in it. He grows a huge
amount of these tubers and he's making a fortune selling
the stuff to Japanese restaurants all over the world
(including Japan). He even has a farm called Pacific Farms
and a the link posted leads to his website where he will sell
fresh Wasabi by mail to almost anywhere in the USA by
mail-order.
Being a bit of a food snob, I purchased some fresh Wasabi
and bragged to my friends that I was going to be eating
"The Real Stuff" the next time I went to a Japanese
restaurant. I became a bore on the subject and I'm sure
my friend wished I had never heard of the stuff.
So I went to a Japanese restaurant recently and took my
fresh Wasabi with me. I mixed the Wasabi paste with soy
sauce and put it in my dipping dish and I sat back in
anticipation of a great eating experience.
And so, I discovered that I don't really like the "real"
Wasabi nearly as much as I like the green paste which the
restaurants serve. It has more flavor, it is easier to get to
"stick" to the morsels of sushi and sashimi, and it isn't
nearly as bitter as real Wasabi. Maybe it's an acquired
taste. After all, it took me years to appreciate the power
of the fake Wasabi, maybe I need time.
One thing is truly for sure, my friends won't get any more
boring lectures on "Real Wasabi" from me for awhile.
posted by S.A.M. Tanner at 10:27 AM
10 Comments:
I, too, LOVE wasabi - almost to a fault - when I get sushi (mediocre, at best - ithis is Utah) at the deli, I always ask for extra wasabi.
I'm wondering if the wasabi you obtained from Oregon is bitter because it's vat-grown - maybe a trip overseas would be in order, to discover the truth.
By the way - if you ever end up in Ann Arbor, Michigan - check out the Wasabi Restaraunt on Washington St. Very good sashimi, and great wasabi.
As to good fresh sashimi... I think I'll go to Oso in San Francisco where you can watch the sushi chefs cut up the fish straight from the market and still covered in shaved ice. I swear them suckers is still moving!
WASABI!!!! (I just had to do that at least once)
I tried the fake stuff in a miniscule amount once. Damn near burned my tongue to a shrivelled husk. I'm not a big fan of spicy foods in general.
But I'm glad you enjoy it, and I salute the superior toughness of your palate. *lol*
I would be curious if the soil-grown wasabi tastes different than the hydroponically grown one, like B said.
I do like the fake stuff mixed into my soy sauce when I have sushi, but I really don't need large amounts of it to enjoy it.
I love wasabi. And i love horseradish even more. I put it in everything. tuna, egg salad, etc.
well, as all have questioned, the only way to tell if the taste differs for sure is to get to a place where the wasabi root is grown naturally.
Good luck with that journey. And thanks for reminding me, i won't be eating sushi for a while. WAH!!!! too broke.
Huh. Ya learn something every day! I don't mind the green paste. Have you ever tried the wasabi-covered cashews from Trader Joes? Mmmmm...
You officially owe me a date to a sushi place and a mojito. It does not have to be in that order.
Check! Come by for the Mojito... it takes precision to make one correctly!
Just delurking to say:
WASABI!
so, that stuff that nearly killed me when we had Japanese the night before Reinstock was horseradish!?
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