Wasabi

Latin Name: Eutrema japonicum

Other Names: Japanese horseradish

Uses: condiment

What Is Wasabi?

You know the mushy green blob that comes with your sushi. That’s wasabi, a plant in the mustard family (Brassicaceae) and also the name of the condiment that comes from that plant. Wasabi is produced by grating the rhizome (underground stem) of the wasabi plant, though cheaper imitations abound. Wasabi has a sulfurous pungency, like other crucifers. However, for wasabi, that pungency is so pronounced that a fine wasabi mist is even used in fire alarms for the deaf.

Why Is Wasabi Healthy?

• Anti-inflammatory compounds in wasabi may ease muscle pain and brain fog. 
• As it’s rich in sulforaphane, wasabi can lower oxidative stress and fight certain cancers.
• Natural antibacterial properties in the plant help the body resist harmful microbes.
• Wasabi fights cognitive decline.

What Does Wasabi Taste Like?

Real wasabi tastes much like its mustard-family cousin horseradish, but it has a very bright, floral aroma that can come only from a plant that has spent its entire life near a babbling forest stream. The sharp pungency will bypass your tongue and cut straight through your sinuses, a trick neatly accomplished by the compound allyl isothiocyanate (which is found in lower concentrations in other crucifers, like cabbage and broccoli).

How Do I Use Wasabi?

You’ll likely use wasabi as a condiment as it’s so strong that it would easily overpower most dishes. You can use it in sauces, dressings, and marinades any time you want a pop of spicy mustard flavor.

What Does Wasabi Pair Well With?

Wasabi famously plays well with the savory foods of Japanese cuisine: soy sauce, miso, seaweed, and shiitake mushrooms. The intensely fragrant pungency of wasabi is usually used to punctuate sushi, highlighting the contrast between fresh, raw seafood and rice. (People sometimes mix it with soy sauce for dipping sushi, but this does a disservice to both the soy sauce and the wasabi.) Wasabi’s up-your-nose heat is best at cutting through rich, fatty, and starchy foods that would otherwise dull the palate; try mixing it with mayonnaise and chives for egg salad sandwiches, or stir it into creamy, buttery mashed potatoes. Wasabi loves the earthiness of buckwheat soba and plays well with the green vegetal flavor of snap peas and green beans. Try dabbing wasabi on eggplant that’s been cooked like unagi (eel brushed with a sticky-savory glaze, then grilled).

Where Does Wasabi Grow?

Wasabi is native to Japan, Korea, and eastern Russia. It’s primarily grown in Japan, in Nagano, Iwate, Shimane, and Shizuoka prefectures. (In fact, the traditional wasabi cultivation in Shizuoka was designated as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 2018.) Wasabi grows along pristine mountain streams in cool climates.

How Do I Buy Wasabi?

Whole fresh wasabi rhizomes can be difficult to source, but some farmers’ markets and Japanese grocers may carry them. (Wrap the root loosely in a damp paper towel and stash it in the fridge.) If you buy wasabi paste in a tube, be wary of imitations; lots of cheaper brands are just horseradish and green food coloring. Look for “hon wasabi” (real wasabi) on the label, even better if it’s from Shizuoka. Avoid the powdered stuff; it’s like comparing an aged gouda to macaroni-and-cheese powder.

Surprising Wasabi Fact

Because wasabi requires a steady supply of cool, flowing water and a temperate forest climate, large-scale cultivation of wasabi is difficult, even under perfect conditions in Japan. The largest wasabi farm in the U.S. (and one of the first to successfully cultivate wasabi for commercial production) is a small operation that’s located along a stream deep in the misty woods of the Oregon coast.