Wasabi in Toronto

[Wayne]

Has anyone found wasabi root in any of Toronto's markets? I've seen it in

Seattle and know it is being grown in the Pacific Northwest. I've also

seen a Country Canada story documenting it's cultivation in B.C.

I haven't seen it at Sanko, Little Tokyo, JapanTown, T&T, or the Spadina

Chinatown grocery stores I've checked out.

If you've seen any, or know of a source, please let me know.

[Oyster Guy]

My advice would be to seek out a restaurant that uses fresh wasabi and inquire where they purchase it from.

A lot of stores won't carry it as it is very expensive and (from my own experience)

has a short shelf life. We get it quite regularly here due to the close proximity to the farms that grow it.

Perhaps when you inquire at the restaurant, you might offer to purchase some from them as it might be easier than conducting a long frustrating search only to come up empty.

We get these kinds of requests all the time where I work and most (if not all) restaurants would be more than happy to accomodate you although a good course of action would be to eat there when you ask.

Hope this helps.

Oyster Guy

[OPJK]

This is a link to an American wasabi grower (used to be the only American wasabi grower - don't know if this is still true).

www.freshwasabi.com

They now are providers to a number of "top" restaurants and are exporting to Japan as well. They used to sell the unprocessed root, but apparently this is no longer the case.

I've bought the root as well as the paste in the past. It's great. I've even hooked up a few sushi chefs in the NYC area with some of each and they liked it and now order from this company.

(BTW, I am in no way connected to this company. I read an article about it in the Wall Street Journal a few years back and decided to check it out. Cool story, too. If I remember correctly, the owner basically was paid for a bad invesmtent with watery land in Oregon. He researched how wasabi is farmed for a number of years - it turns out the Japanese growers were extremely reluctant to let their farming secrets out. Then started growing. The process is apparently pretty involved.)

[davedemi]

This is a link to an American wasabi grower (used to be the only American wasabi grower - don't know if this is still true).

www.freshwasabi.com

They now are providers to a number of "top" restaurants and are exporting to Japan as well.  They used to sell the unprocessed root, but apparently this is no longer the case.

I've bought the root as well as the paste in the past.  It's great.  I've even hooked up a few sushi chefs in the NYC area with some of each and they liked it  and now order from this company. 

(BTW, I am in no way connected to this company.  I read an article about it in the Wall Street Journal a few years back and decided to check it out.  Cool story, too.  If I remember correctly, the owner basically was paid for a bad invesmtent with watery land in Oregon.  He researched how wasabi is farmed for a number of years - it turns out the Japanese growers were extremely reluctant to let their farming secrets out.  Then started growing.  The process is apparently pretty involved.)

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[davedemi]

sorry about that last one......

try Taro's Fish 905 944 1377

he's in Japantown complex at steeles and woodbine

amazing selection of fish.. occasionally has fresh produce (herbs, etc. from japan)

he's carried it before

[estufarian]

I tried finding fresh wasabi last spring in Toronto and totally struck out - wasn't available anywhere.

Best I could do was powdered wasabi (no horseradish) at Whole Foods.

[davedemi]

just spoke to Taro- he orders from Japan on Fridays- receives on the following Wednesday- if you request you could probably get it by next week...hmm...think I'll get some

BTW if you've never used it, let it sit and oxidize for a couple of minutes before using; if you taste it fresh grated it's almost bland

[Wayne]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will look into Taro. I've also found a B.C.

supplier so I can find out who they supply in Toronto.