What is wasabi?
Wasabi it’s Japan…Nothing embodies better the Japanese spirit and nothing else in the world can truly make you travel to that country instantly (if only with your mind) …
I tried it for the first time when I travelled to the Country of the rising sun and, without any doubt, it was one of the many surprising things I had, but if I had to describe that sensation I wouldn’t use adjectives that we usually relate to food because it’s just fucking amazing! I know, it’s uncommon to say we feel love for a certain food, but that’s what it was, kind of the same thing that happened when I had some “ravioli” handmade by my gandma Nerina or a “cocido madrleño” of my grandma Piedad, that food for me, comfort food, relates more to the spirit than the palate, wasabi it’s just on the same level (and that’s saying a lot)!
But while most of the people think to have tried wasabi, they really haven’t: the green paste that’s given in most of Japanese restaurants it’s NOT wasabi and worse than everything, it does not taste even close to the real thing. It would be as if you’re buying a zebra and you get a donkey with black and white stripes hand painted…
Fake Wasabi…
Few days ago, I was wondering what to cook and I had some bonito which was prep to make some good sashimi, so I went through everything in my mind: bonito check, soy check, wasabi missing, wasabi missing! I went to the supermarket and bought one of those tubes which says Wasabi Paste and I had my sashimi, want to know the result? I could barely taste the subtle flavour of the bonito, the only possible occurring flavours were an uncomfortable spicy taste, given by the paste and the saltiness of the soy sauce.
Fake wasabi is made with horseradish, which is like a cousin (the ugly, uncultured, sweaty and greasy cousin) of the wasabi, it has an intense flavour and a spiciness that lasts longer in the mouth. The green colour, not a characteristic of the horseradish, is given by a mix of blue colouring and turmeric (blue plus yellow makes green), clever indeed, isn’t it? The paste contains also mustard aroma, it would be interesting to know what that means, and thickener. Where’s the wasabi? Well there’s a humongous 2% of wasabi, but it could reach an incredible 4%, which is made from dried leaves of the wasabi plant, great, then I won’t complain anymore…
The real thing…
Wasabi is a semi-aquatic plant (Eutrema japonicum), incredibly difficult to grow as it only does so in humid terrains with clean streams of water and temperatures in between 12 and 15 ºC; unlike most people think what we use is not the root of the plant, but the trunk.
Even in Japan it’s rare, few prefectures can have the honour to be suppliers of this lovely vegetable: the Izu peninsula, Nagano prefecture and Iwate prefecture, and that’s it! Outside of Japan there’s only 10 places in the world that have a crop, one of them is nearby Barcelona, in the Montseny Natural Park, the company is called Yamaaoi Wasabi and I can tell you their work has not been in vain, their wasabi is simply perfect.
On the flavour profile, fresh wasabi is nothing like the fake one, the spicy feeling is instantaneous and quite strong, but it also disappears really quickly leaving a fresh sensation: it’s all thank to the compound allyl isothiocyanate, which also have the strange characteristic of cleaning the nostrils… But the most important factor here it’s time as if you count the seconds when you start to feel it and when it fades away it would probably be less than a minute, unbelievable considering that things like chilli (were the active spicy compound is capsaicin) can last even 30’ depending on your tolerance. Not everyone can try chilli (depending also on the variety), everyone can and should try real wasabi.
Know-how…
When fresh the thing is outstanding, great flavour, intense aroma but…it only lasts 15’ at most, that is why you should make the paste only when the dish you’re going to use it with is ready. To make the paste you just need a ginger grater (the traditional one, made with shark skin is usually over 90€), peel off a bit of the skin and grate it applying a light pressure while you turn it in circles. All the parts of the plant are edible and with a different level of spiciness, leafs are usually not that strong, the trunk it’s just the best!
Prices may vary a lot depending on where you buy it, however it would be very difficult to find at less than 300€ per kilo, with peaks up to 450€ per kilo, it makes it probably among the most expensive vegetables on the planet. But do not despair, you can find it in pieces in some stores (Barcelona) or order directly from the company and despite its price I can say you don’t need to use huge amounts, with around 30g you can make up to 5-6 servings. Wasabi can last in the fridge up to 2 or 3 weeks and that gives you plenty of time to use it…
Which thing should you choose to go with fresh wasabi? That’s a bit up to you, I’ve tried it with many things and it matches perfectly well even with meat or vegetables, the limit is your imagination…however, no need to say where it works best is with raw fish, just like heaven for your taste buds. Soy sauce or not is another debate, I love it with blue fish and I couldn’t do without it when I prepare some raw squid… By the way, one of the reasons Japanese people use it with raw fish? Wasabi has antiseptic properties…
What else can I say? It was love at first sight!
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