Wasabi

I thought that I would start with a post to do with wasabi because that is what this blog is called.

Wasabi stem
By EverJean from Nishiki-ichiba, Kyoto (Flickr) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Random facts

• It is related to cabbages, horseradish and mustard
• It is a very pungent and makes your nose burn
• Freshly grated wasabi loses flavour in 15 mins if left uncovered
• Tubes of wasabi sold outside of Japan do not actually contain wasabi as the plant is difficult to grow and is very expensive. Usually they contain horseradish, mustard and starch and green food colouring.
• But as wasabi is hard to cultivate, even the wasabi tubes contain very little real wasabi
• Real wasabi is called 本わさび (pronounciation: hon wasabi)
• Wasabi is able to kill bacteria which is why it is often used with raw fish
• Dried wasabi loses its flavour so it tastes different from fresh wasabi
• Wasabi can be used as a smoke alarm. Japanese scientists have made a smoke detector which sprays wasabi spray when it detects smoke. A prototype sprayed wasabi spray at a man when he was sleeping and he woke up in 10 seconds. They recieved a Ig Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

Where can it be grown

• In Japan, there are few places that the plant can successfully be grown even in the right conditions.
• It is mainly grown in the Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka prefecture, Nagano prefecture, Iwate prefecture 
• However,  wasabi has successfully been grown in Dorset and is now being sold fresh in the UK

Map of prefectures in Japan
By Tokyoship (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

What conditions are needed to grow it

• Wasabi plants prefer wet comditions and likes the shade
• It likes humid conditions but does not like hot conditions
• It can survive temperatures down to -5C
• It takes 2 years to mature
• It thrives in well draining soil but likes a large amount of water
• It likes cool, fresh flowing water.
• Growing it on the edge of a pond with a large amount of shade is an ideal place
• If you want to buy or find out more about wasabi, click this link to The wasabi company.

How to prepare it

• You can grate it with a metal grater or you can use a tool made of sharkskin with fine skin on one side and coarse skin on the other.
• Wasabi leaves can be battered and fried to make chips
• You can eat the flowers raw when they grow in March and April or you can tempura batter them.

Sharkskin grater

"Oroshigane.Sharkskin" by Chris 73 / Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

What can you do with wasabi?

• The most common use would be with sushi
• But you can use it with nearly everything because it is so versatile.
• Recomended uses of wasabi include: sashimi ( slices of raw fish)
• When eating it with sushi, do not dissolve the wasabi in the soy sauce because it will lose its taste.
• When ordering sushi, wasabi will nearly always be contained between the top of the rice and underneath the fish
• However, if you want to have more wasabi on the sushi, you add it to the top
• You can use wasabi like mustard on top of steaks
• Mixing wasabi and soy sauce can be used a sauce on top of hamburgers
• Wasabi, soy sauce and avocado can be used as an appetizer

The difference between horseradish and wasabi

• Wasabi is often refered to as Japanese Horseradish but it is not the same as real wasabi
• Horseradish comes from Europe
• Wasabi comes from Japan
• They both taste very different, real wasabi has a mild taste and is less hot than horseradish which makes you cry

私は、イギリスではチューブに入ったわさびしか食べたことがありませんでしたが、日本に住んでいるおばあちゃんと行ったレストランで、自分で本物のわさびをすって食べました。自分ですったわさびは、全然辛くなかったです．チューブに入ってるわさびはとても辛いです。あまり好きではありません。チューブに入ってるわさびは、本物のわさびだと思っていましたが違うと知って、驚きました。

I have only tasted wasabi from a tube in England but when I went to Japan, I went to a restaurant with my grandmother and grated real wasabi. It tasted very mild compared to the tube wasabi which is very hot. I do not like tube wasabi. I have thought that wasabi from a tube was real wasabi so I was surprised to know that wasabi tubes do not contain much wasabi.

Please comment if you like this post. Also, if there is an aspect of Japan that you wish to know about, tell me in the comments and I will try and post about it.