Think You've Been Eating Wasabi All This Time?

[G_j]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/26/real-wasabi_n_5027341.html



Wasabi: you know it well, or so you think. Chances are, however, you've never actually eaten real wasabi, or at least not very often. This is because most of the wasabi served outside of Japan is a mixture of horseradish, mustard and food coloring. Even in Japan, the demand for real wasabi is so high that you'll often find the horseradish mixture instead, with little, if any, real wasabi mixed in.

Real wasabi tastes more herbal than the horseradish stuff. It's hot but doesn't have a lingering, burning aftertaste. It's supposed to taste smoother, cleaner and more "plant-like" than its commonly used substitute. The horseradish paste served in restaurants is harsher and not as fresh-tasting.

--

Real wasabi comes from grating the root Wasabia Japonica.

...more...

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Interesting.

Now I know why I don't like what we are told is wasabi: It tastes like horseradish, and I don't like horseradish.

[MohRokTah]

2. Real wasabi is what could make aquaponics incredibly profitable.

Using aquaponics as the growing medium for wasabi is nearly perfect in terms of matching how it is cultivated in Japan, and providing real wasabi to high end Japanese restaurants in the US would be fairly lucrative.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

4. if I were a hydroponics genius...

I would do this!

[yallerdawg]

3. There ain't nothin' better...

than slathering on the green stuff all over your fake crab sushi and exploding at the table, horrifying all your tablemates, particularly the one across the table from you, with waitresses and sushi specialists and customers all staring at you, and then yelling, with a face full of snot and drool, "WASABI!" like you're a blooming idiot!

Should I start yelling, "GREEN COLORED HORSERADISH!" instead?

[BrotherIvan]

9. Back in the day when sushi was new to the US

I took a lot of sushi virgins for their first bite o the raw. It must have been a sadistic pleasure, because every single one instantly grabbed the little cone of pastel green and popped it in their mouths, no doubt assuming that since it wasn't glistening raw fish, it was safe. I would turn to see a face dripping with tears and snot and my friend looking like a lost, wet dog in the snow, trembling with pain and fear.

Your awesome post has me

[yallerdawg]

10. I tell newbies, particularly children...

it is a delicious avocado dip! Oh, yes! We bad!

Don't you just love food that bites back?

[Cha]

18. I do love food that bites back.. but "children"?!!!!!!

[GreatGazoo]

5. I'm playing with a new cuisine that combines the format of sushi

with healthier ingredients. I love the cut rolls but not the abundance of white rice, fake crab and other substitutions.

I roll couscous, salmon and avocado together, cut the roll in 6 pieces, drip some lemon juice on and then dip them in Shoyu. I want to try rolling with collards (when the season starts) instead of the seaweed paper. Also maybe quinoa if I can get it sticky enough to stay in the cut roll. My fillings are all over the place -- dry roasted peanuts, roast lamb, chicken tenders, bok choy, carrot, all kinds of stuff.

Sushi, as served in many US sushi bars and supermarkets, is very cheap to make -- fake crab, fake wasabi, crap soy sauce, tons of white rice -- so the mark-up is astronomical. It is not at all hard to make. I recommend any sushi lovers to give it a try.

[JaneyVee]

6. Sounds phenomenal. I love sushi (mostly sashimi) but...

The couscous substitute sounds amazing.

[GreatGazoo]

7. I grow bok choy, edamame and haricot vert

so the idea came from playing with those (as I have excess during the season). Searching for better soy sauce, I found San-J organic shoyu and it became clear how much the taste of sushi is dominated by the soy sauce (and wasabi). I cut baby bok choy lengthwise, flash fry it in pancetta or another fat and then dress it with salt and balsamic or the shoyu.

That led to rolling green beans and slivered almonds in sushi rolls, and edamame pearl couscous, and then (real) couscous in the sushi rolls, etc. etc.

[JaneyVee]

11. I love edamame also. I eat it constantly.

I don't use shoyu much, I'll eat 3 pieces of sushi then dip one and so on. I don't eat caviar either, I always tell them to exclude it. Salt isn't a favorite flavor of mine, I like the natural sushi taste. Now I'm hungry!

[pangaia]

12. "It is not at all hard to make."

I know what you mean, but....
there are miles and miles and years and years of difference between what is these days served in many American 'sushi bars,' (and even light years if we are speaking of super markets), and..really good sushi.

It takes years of experience and practice and caring to learn to make even sushi rice.
In fact, in many ways the rice is the most important ingredient.

Yet, there are very good sushi bars in the US.

[G_j]

14. that sounds awesome

though now you made me hungry..

[Cha]

19. I've done that on and off for years.. being vegan.. I use Nori, brown rice, rice vinegar, umeboshi,

avocado, steamed veggies.. and of course Wasabi.

[zappaman]

8. I just had real wasabi last night!

They slice and grind it up fresh in front of you at this great local joint.
Unlike the regular wasabi, they charge a couple bucks for it, but so worth it!

[Cha]

20. Good on you and your taste buds, zappa!

[zappaman]

21. Oh, and this place uses brown rice!

Which is awesome.
Plus, the make a pickled lotus root which is great!

[Cha]

22. Which is Even Better! I could never eat white rice again. I like organic brown basmanti, myself.

pickled lotus root? Never had that but pickled ginger, yes!

[pangaia]

13. The horseradish mixture served in 99% of American sushi bars

is nothing like wasabi. Zero, nada.. zilch...

On edit..
Opps.. forgot.. Thanks for the post.

[NightWatcher]

15. Wasabi? Nah, I prefer sriracha and soy sauce

Eat piece of the roll gets dipped in the Hipster Ketchup then dipped in the straight soy (low sodium, of course)

I just had it Wednesday but damn I could go eat it again today.

[winter is coming]

17. "It's hot but doesn't have a lingering, burning aftertaste."

And thank God for this, because the first time I had wasabi, I didn't know what it was and popped a big ol' chunk of it in my mouth. Cleared my sinuses, but it wasn't painful. I've encountered the fake wasabi, too.

[Initech]

23. Very interesting. Didn't know that.