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Real Wasabi

DaveFaris

By DaveFaris
in Kitchen Consumer

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NewFoodie

NewFoodie

Posted
Posted

From what I'm reading online, real wasabi is Japanese horseradish (Wasabia japonica), and has a taste reminiscent of asparagus and artichokes.

 

The widely available fake wasabi is "western" horseradish (Armoracia rusticana, also known as Cochlearia armoracia) mixed with mustard, soy sauce, and green food coloring.

 

I'm probably going to have to order real wasabi online (which I hate to do, since it takes so long to receive it), because I can't think of any place around here in the hinterlands that would carry such an arcane product.  One person commented that some sushi restaurants will give you real wasabi for a "small upcharge".  I'll ask around, but I suspect that it is also unavailable in local restaurants.

 

The links that others cited above lead to articles about two companies (Frog Eyes Wasabi in Oregon, and British Columbia Wasabi) that are starting to grow a lot of real wasabi.  And it's the superior "sawa" kind, meaning that it's grown under natural conditions: in cool, running water, rather than in dirt.

 

Frog Eyes Wasabi is producing two varieties: Daruma (neon green, modest heat, slightly sweet) and Mazuma (darker with a purple ring inside, very hot and robust).

 

I'm really eager to try real wasabi on sushi and sashimi.  Off the top of my head, I'm kind of leaning towards the Mazuma, but any comments on this would be appreciated.

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NewFoodie

NewFoodie

Posted
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I also have a more basic question: has anyone actually tried the real wasabi?  Before I order it, I'd like to hear from others about whether it really is superior to the western horseradish-Chinese mustard concoction - or is that just hype?

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SobaAddict70

SobaAddict70

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I also have a more basic question: has anyone actually tried the real wasabi?  Before I order it, I'd like to hear from others about whether it really is superior to the western horseradish-Chinese mustard concoction - or is that just hype?

I've only had it at high-end sushi palaces like Kurumazushi.

The typical stuff is a pale shadow of the real thing.

That being said, we don't know your palate. Before you go to the trouble of ordering it, you'll probably want to eat at places that do offer it. I don't know swestern New Jersey, so can't help you there.

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NewFoodie

NewFoodie

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I've only had it at high-end sushi palaces like Kurumazushi.

The typical stuff is a pale shadow of the real thing.

That being said, we don't know your palate. Before you go to the trouble of ordering it, you'll probably want to eat at places that do offer it. I don't know western New Jersey, so can't help you there.

 

I've called the 5 sushi restaurants within 10 miles of my house, and at all 5 I've just gotten underlings on the phone, and when I've left a message about wanting real wasabi, I've never gotten a call back from the owners.  I'm not surprised; this isn't Manhatten.

 

Do you know what KIND of wasabi you had?  From what I'm reading online, I guess it was either Daruma or Mazuma.  What did it look, smell and taste like?  How hot was it?  How long did the heat last in the mouth?  And was it a rhizome that was freshly grated at the table?  Or did it come as a paste in a tube?

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SobaAddict70

SobaAddict70

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I've called the 5 sushi restaurants within 10 miles of my house, and at all 5 I've just gotten underlings on the phone, and when I've left a message about wanting real wasabi, I've never gotten a call back from the owners.  I'm not surprised; this isn't Manhatten.

 

Do you know what KIND of wasabi you had?  From what I'm reading online, I guess it was either Daruma or Mazuma.  What did it look, smell and taste like?  How hot was it?  How long did the heat last in the mouth?  And was it a rhizome that was freshly grated at the table?  Or did it come as a paste in a tube?

It was a rhizome that was freshly grated. I almost never sit at tables when eating sushi; it's all about the interaction between you and the sushi chef, so my preference is to sit at the bar.

I don't know the kind, but the next time I eat at a place that offers it, I'll ask. That being said, you'll probably experience it sooner than I will.

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fledflew

fledflew

Posted
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I've called the 5 sushi restaurants within 10 miles of my house, and at all 5 I've just gotten underlings on the phone, and when I've left a message about wanting real wasabi, I've never gotten a call back from the owners.  I'm not surprised; this isn't Manhatten.

 

Do you know what KIND of wasabi you had?  From what I'm reading online, I guess it was either Daruma or Mazuma.  What did it look, smell and taste like?  How hot was it?  How long did the heat last in the mouth?  And was it a rhizome that was freshly grated at the table?  Or did it come as a paste in a tube?

 

I've had real wasabi several times, although I never thought to ask what type it was.  I didn't take a deliberate sniff of it, but I don't recall the smell being especially fragrant or pungent on the plate.  It looks similar to the fake putty-like stuff in color, but the real stuff has a bit more texture - like very well pureed applesauce when it's on the plate but not as wet.  It's always been grated for me at the time of service and it is my understanding that the flavor fades extremely quickly once it's grated.  I was told that after 10-15 minutes, the taste will be significantly muted from when it's first ground.  I feel that the taste is much more floral and has a complex quality to it.  For me, the heat comes harder, but dissipates much faster than the fake stuff.  

 

Beware that there are some places that serve "real" wasabi which may or may not actually contain real wasabi.  On more than one occasion, I have asked my server/sushi chef whether they had real wasabi, been told yes (sometimes for an upcharge), only to be served a green onion based sauce/paste.  In those scenarios, I generally receive about a teaspoon of chopped scallion greens in a salty, slimy sauce.  It tastes of wasabi (although I can't really see any in it because it's composed of almost all green onions and snot-like sauce) and seems to have some soy sauce, ginger, and other flavoring agents in it (possibly seaweed extract to boost the umami).  When I get served this product, it has always tasted pretty much the same and once I even saw the sushi chef squeeze out the sauce from an aseptic mylar-like pouch about the size of a single serving powder-based hot chocolate packet - which leads me to believe that it's a somewhat readily available institutional product for the food service industry.

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Shalmanese

Shalmanese

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Beware that there are some places that serve "real" wasabi which may or may not actually contain real wasabi.  On more than one occasion, I have asked my server/sushi chef whether they had real wasabi, been told yes (sometimes for an upcharge), only to be served a green onion based sauce/paste.

IMHO, not enough people know about the real/fake wasabi business that you get a useful answer. Instead, ask if they have "freshly grated" wasabi to get a much more reliable answer. Restaurants that serve real wasabi generally grate it in front of you as the show is as much part of it as the product.

PS: I am a guy.

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Shel_B

Shel_B

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Looking for real wasabi root, either prepared or whole root.  Any ideas where it can be obtained?

 

I've looked at several products that claim to be wasabi, but they all, at best, contain only a small amount of the root.  Here's a typical ingredient list from a product described as real:

 

HORSERADISH 40.0 %

WASABI 15.0 %

IODIZED SALT 8.0 %

SOYBEAN OIL 7.0 %

CORN STARCH 5.0 %

MUSTARD POWDER 1.0 %

 

 ... Shel


 

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FauxPas

FauxPas

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Here's a place on the West Coast that grows and sells it fresh as well as the freeze-dried powder, but it's pricey. 

https://wasabia.com/

 

If you look, you will probably be able to find other sources but some of them are of questionable authenticity, I suspect. 

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Shel_B

Shel_B

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1 minute ago, FauxPas said:

Here's a place on the West Coast that grows and sells it fresh as well as the freeze-dried powder, but it's pricey. 

https://wasabia.com/

 

If you look, you will probably be able to find other sources but some of them are of questionable authenticity, I suspect. 

Thank you!     I believe that's the place I've heard about but was unable to find ... 

 

I have encountered dubious quality and questionable authenticity ... 😞

 ... Shel


 

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Alex

Alex

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The Spice House: ½ oz (~14.2 g) for $13.99

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

"...in the mid-’90s when the internet was coming...there was a tendency to assume that when all the world’s knowledge comes online, everyone will flock to it. It turns out that if you give everyone access to the Library of Congress, what they do is watch videos on TikTok."  -Neil Stephenson, author, in The Atlantic

 

"In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual." -Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer

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Tropicalsenior

Tropicalsenior

Posted
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6 minutes ago, Shel_B said:

I have encountered dubious quality and questionable authenticity

That's the problem. If you bought it outside of Japan it's not dubious or questionable you just automatically know it's not the real thing. But now we are all accustomed to using the phony stuff. About 98% of us wouldn't know real wasabi if it walked up and kicked us in the face.

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KennethT

KennethT

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2 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

That's the problem. If you bought it outside of Japan it's not dubious or questionable you just automatically know it's not the real thing. But now we are all accustomed to using the phony stuff. About 98% of us wouldn't know real wasabi if it walked up and kicked us in the face.

Not necessarily true - years ago, I was looking into growing wasabi hydroponically indoors and I found a few already doing it in the US.  So those are true wasabi root not grown in Japan.  I don't remember the company names though - but I do remember that they either only or primarily sold to restaurants.

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Tropicalsenior

Tropicalsenior

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8 minutes ago, KennethT said:

I found a few already doing it in the US.

That's good to know. I do know that some years ago when I was in New York I checked every spice Outlet and every Chinese and Japanese Market I could find looking for wasabi and this is the closest that I could come. It's green but it's not really wasabi.

20240622_145620.thumb.jpg.7aaa2f17e020414facab9bc8887f5478.jpg

 

20240622_145706.thumb.jpg.243356ad59037247fba0e00d17409a82.jpg

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Shel_B

Shel_B

Posted
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20 minutes ago, FrogPrincesse said:

Your local Japanese supermarket will likely have fresh wasabi root.

It doesn't, already checked.  Maybe in San Francisco's Japanese neighborhood, but driving or public transit to the area would be a last resort.

 ... Shel


 

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FrogPrincesse

FrogPrincesse

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2 minutes ago, Shel_B said:

It doesn't, already checked.  Maybe in San Francisco's Japanese neighborhood, but driving or public transit to the area would be a last resort.

For sure (Nijiya has it). You can use instacart to see if any stores have it close to where you live.

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Shel_B

Shel_B

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24 minutes ago, Alex said:

The Spice House: ½ oz (~14.2 g) for $13.99

That's good information.  While more expensive than Pacific Coast Wasabi on a per ounce basis, it's inexpensive enough to purchase as a sample.  I suspect that it's the same powder sold by https://wasabia.com/ , Pacific Coast Wasabi Ltd.  Might be nice to know for sure, though.

 

Thanks for the link!

 ... Shel


 

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Shel_B

Shel_B

Posted
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10 minutes ago, FrogPrincesse said:

For sure (Nijiya has it). You can use instacart to see if any stores have it close to where you live.

I'll check Nijiya. Thanks!  I've never used instacart.  Sounds like it might be another search resource. I'll look into it.

 ... Shel


 

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