Wasabi

(Wasabia japonica)

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“Wasabi” probably conjures up for you the little pyramid of green paste on your sushi platter or the delightfully painful and transitory sensation of your sinuses getting cleaned out.  In many cases, what is called wasabi is made of horseradish and mustard either in paste or power form.

Real, fresh wasabi is a rhizome, a root, which is in the same family (Brassicaceae) as, but is not, horseradish or mustard.

From Shizuo Tsuji’s seminal Japanese Cooking, A Simple Art:

The plant’s natural habitat is the marshy edge of cold and clear streams. In fact, wasabi cannot be cultivated well in other than cold, pure running water, and is grown in flooded mountain terraces.  

Wasabi is sometimes compared to Western horseradish, but the two are not related.  Wasabi is more fragrant and less sharp than white horseradish. 

“The edible part of the plant is the root.  Shop for the root (green tops already disposed of) in water-filled pans at greengrocers in Japan. Before grating into a fine paste, cut out the “eyes” and pare away the tough brownish-green skin to reveal the delicately colored, pale green flesh.  Rub on a fine grater, using a circular motion.

Some Japanese restaurants will offer the option of fresh wasabi for an extra charge. On occasion, my sister kindly gifts me with a fresh root, which sparks a whole menu planned around the fragrant, biting, pale green mound of grated wasabi.