So You Think YOu Know Wasabi

 I was out for lunch with some friends, Sylvie and Henry recently.  We ate a Japanese restaurant, and right away we began talking about wasabi.  Henry asked if I had ever had real wasabi, and I said I had.  I was introduced to it a few years ago at a sushi bar.  I was the only one at the bar at the time, and the sushi chef asked me if I would like to try real wasabi.  I thought I had always been eating real wasabi, but it turned out I had not.  What he brought me was very different.  It wasn't spicy and it wasn't light green and smooth.  It was delicious, but most restaurants don't serve it because it is expensive.  What we get is the fake stuff.  What we get is a mixture of horseradish, mustard seen flour and other ingredients, none of them wasabi.

What is the taste difference between real and fake wasabi?

• Real wasabi is a condiment that accentuates the delicate taste of fish, enhancing it to another level. Real wasabi is not spicy. It’s more like the aroma of spiciness but without the pungent punch of the mustard seed flour in the fake stuff.
• Fake wasabi has a very strong taste that overrules the delicate fish taste. It delivers a strong blast of spiciness that comes from the mustard seed flour.

So next time you go out for sushi, ask your chef for some real wasabi.  They will probably charge $1 for a small serving.  It's worth trying.  You probably will never be satisfied with the fake stuff again.