 Wasabi
Generally the green wasabi paste you get on the side of your sushi dish next to the Gari, is in fact just coloured and flavoured horseradish. hon-wasabi is the name for "real" wasabi where the stuff you normally find in Asian supermarkets here in the UK is seiyo'o wasabi. The wasabi root is actually a member of the cabbage family (known as Cruciferous), it's full name is wasabia japonica,
it only grows naturally beside the highland streams and cold running rivers of Amagi, Hotaka, and Shizuoka in Japan and some parts of Korea. Wasabi farms, Duruma and Mazums to name two, do exist but outside of Japan and Korea real wasabi is hard to come buy and very expensive! It takes 2 years to fully grow to harvestable size which is why most places serve died European horseradish. There are some farms in Taiwan, mainland China and even in New Zealand . Japan has to import much of it's fresh wasabi due to the massively high demand.
When you buy wasabi in the shops it is usually in paste or powder form, the wasabi powder cannot be eaten until water is added to make wasabi paste. Its taste is unique but the wasabi burn sensation is similar to that of English Mustard. Unlike other hot food such as chilies, the heat from wasabi goes quickly and doesn't leave a lasting burning sensation on your tongue.
Not only the root of the wasabi plant can be eaten but the leaves are also edible. You can crush and pound the leaves, deep fry them and serve them is flakes or chips. Also by pickling the leaves over night in salt water with vinegar, or boiling rapidly adding soy sauce, you can use the wasabi leaves as part of a delicious salad recipe.
Wild wasabi has been used in Japan as a herbal remedy for curing food poisoning, with all that uncooked fish, someone's going to get poisoned! Scientific studies have discovered that certain chemicals within wasabi have valuable effects such as reducing bacterial growth. This is one of the reasons why it is usually served with seafood. Wasabi has been used for many, many years, even being mentioned in the oldest Chinese dictionary, the Wamyou-Ruijyusyo.
 To prepare real fresh wasabi, Japanese chefs will rub the root ( rhizome) against a course surface, usually a shark's skin grater as it has a fine edge.
Wasabi paste is normally eaten with sushi and sashimi but can also be used as a marinade or on noodle dishes to add spice and flavour. It's sweet taste compliments the fish of sushi and the salty taste of naturally brewed soy sauces such as Kikkoman.
Wasabi is now an international flavour, used in the UK, Europe and America widely. It can be found in many recipes and in snacks like wasabi peas, where peas are fried and coated in wasabi and other spices, through to dips and marinade sauces.
The main flavour of wasabi comes from Sinigrin. It is a mixture of black mustard seeds and the wasabi rhizome. Unprocessed wasabi root doesn't have a very strong flavor, the sinigrin must come in contact with air before it releases the spicy wasabi taste. This is why it is best to make the wasabi paste from powder and eat it straight away. Some sushi bars, make portions in sake or tea cups and turn them upside down protecting them from the air and sealing in the wasabi flavour. It's best to use powders as the ingredients tend to be more natural and free from preservative. Most added ingredients to pre mixed wasabi pastes will not be written on the tube and if they were would be written in a language most of us don't understand! Either way, enjoy wasabi as an integral part of the food we love, sushi.
Wasabi in our sushi store
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