Wasabi
I’m not really sure where this “custom” originated, but at many sushi restaurants outside of Japan you can see diners pouring out a liberal amount of soysauce( called “murasaki” meaning “purple” in sushi parlance) on to their small dish and mixing a heavy dollop of “wasabi” and creating a mutant greenish sauce in which a piece of sushi is dunked in.
Now, I’m no sushi snob… in fact, I can hardly tell a difference between a cheap 100 yen kaiten zushi(one of them color coded conveyor belt places)and 1000 yen chu toro. But on the other hand, I’m sure as the sushi chef goes to work on his daily masterpiece nigiri sushi, making sure to apply a thin coat of wasabi paste in between the fish and rice that he believes achieves the perfect balance in taste, no doubt he sheds a silent tear as the patron dunks the whole shebang into a vat of soysauce and wasabi.
Speaking of wasabi, the kind you get in America and elswhere outside of Japan (and maybe Korea) isn’t even true wasabi at all. This may surprise some of you, especially those of you who believe they grow naturally in small plastic tubes labeled “S&B”. Some call wasabi “Japanese horse radish”, but like napa, brocolli, and my personal favorite brussel sprouts, wasabi are actually of cabbage family, in which the root of the plant is used for culinary purposes.
In better udon and soba shops in Japan, wasabi is served as a whole root, with a small hand held grater to finely grind the root into the noodle sauce. It’s hard work, sitting there grating and grating, all the while eyeing the delicious plate of soba or udon, but your hard work is ultimately rewarded since the real wasabi, or “本山葵” [hon wasabi] lends a fragrance and taste that no tube borne fake ass wasabi can attempt to emulate. As an added bonus, many places have little plastic bags with which you can take your left over root home.
In Korea, wasabi called “gochu neng-i” [고추냉이] also grows in secluded spots next to clean, running streams. Here, apparently, though, folks also harvest the stems and the leaves and make kimchi. And of course, the root is used as well.
March 27th, 2007 at 4:33 am
It is nice to see more and more folks discerning the difference and pursuing authenticity. Marketers have worked hard to get the world to accept the term “Japanese horseradish”, but there is no such thing. Wasabia japonica is a slow growing perennial with a remarkable flavor profile distinctly different from horseradish. Sadly, most wasabi isn’t. Consumers deserve to know, and have access to, the real deal.
March 27th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
Love your new layout!
March 28th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
Mime Jr,
Thank you for your visits. And i’m really glad you like the layout!
May 16th, 2007 at 11:56 pm
Here, this is my topic.
Put stupid amount of wasabi and eat and cry, this is my definition every time when i eat sushi.
You need to put over amount of wasabi. why? cuz its good. jus do it.
as my URL says, eat wasabi with kick!
May 19th, 2007 at 6:39 pm
have been thinking about growing wasabi “cabbage” and was interested in growing requirements and climactic conditions . If possible to grow it on our place you gues can then have the real thing available in Australia! Could be silly could be good. Any ideas of places to look for info on this?
May 20th, 2007 at 10:33 am
well cabbages and horseradishes are related (so are mustard plants). They’re all Brassicae.
May 22nd, 2007 at 12:07 am
That’s pretty astute, Cowbert. You’re right, but I think wasabi is a type of rhizome, maybe more closely related to iris family than cabbage family. But, I’m no botanist…