Wasabi is grown for itsrhizomes, which are ground into a paste as apungent condiment forsushi and other foods. It is similar in taste to hot mustard or horseradish rather thanchilli peppers, in that it stimulates the nose more than the tongue, but freshly grated wasabi has a subtly distinct flavour.[6]: 53 The main cultivars in the marketplace areE. japonicum 'Daruma' and 'Mazuma', but there are many others.[6]
The oldest record of wasabi as a food dates to the 8th century AD.[7] The popularity of wasabi in English-speaking countries has coincided with that of sushi, growing steadily from about 1980.[8] Due to constraints that limit the Japanese wasabi plant's mass cultivation and thus increase its price and decrease availability outside Japan, the western horseradish plant is widely used in place of wasabi. This is commonly referred to as "western wasabi" (西洋わさび) in Japan.
Siebold namedCochlearia (?) wasabi in 1830, noting its usepro condimento or "as a condiment";[9]: 54 however, this is anomen nudum, and thesynonymEutrema wasabi, published byMaximovich in 1873,[10]: 283 is thus anillegitimate name.[5]: 133 The wasabi plant was firstdescribed byMiquel in 1866, asLunaria (?) japonica, from thetype collected by Siebold in Japan, though the precisetype locality was not recorded.[2]: 74
In 1899Matsumura erected the genusWasabia, recognising within it the speciesWasabia pungens andWasabia hederaefolia;[11] these are now regarded assynonyms ofEutrema japonicum.[5]: 133 In 1912 Matsumura recognised the speciesWasabia japonica, treating his earlierWasabia pungens as a synonym.[12] In 1930,Koidzumi transferred the wasabi plant to the genusEutrema,[13] thecorrect name andauthor citation beingEutrema japonicum (Miq.)Koidz.[1]
It has large leaves produced from long, thin stalks.[6]: 54 They are simple and large, 3–6 inches (7.6–15.2 cm) long and 3–6 inches (7.6–15.2 cm) wide with palmate veins.[14]
Wasabi is mainly used to make wasabi paste, which is a pungent, spicy condiment eaten with foods likesushi. The part used for wasabi paste has been characterized as therhizome or thestem, or the "rhizome plus the base part of the stem".[15][16][17] Stores generally sell only this part of the plant.
The fresh rhizome is grated into a paste, and eaten in small amounts at a time. Traditionally, coarsesharkskin is used to grate the root, but metal graters calledoroshigane are used in modern times. Fresh wasabi paste loses its flavor quickly if left uncovered, and so the paste is grated on the spot in some high-end restaurants.[18] Sushi chefs usually put the wasabi between the fish and the rice, to cover the wasabi and preserve its flavour.
Store-bought wasabi paste is usually made from dried wasabi powder, and sold in bottles or squeezabletoothpaste-like tubes.[19]
Wasabi is used to flavor many foods, especially drysnacks.Wasabi-mame (わさび豆, "wasabi bean") arelegumes (peanuts, soybeans, or peas) that are roasted or fried and then coated with wasabi powder, and eaten as a snack.
Fresh wasabi leaves can be eaten raw, having a spicy flavor,[20] but a common side effect isdiarrhea.[14]Wasabizuke is made of wasabi leaves pickled insake lees, and is considered a specialty ofShizuoka Prefecture.
Wasabi favors growing conditions that restrict its wide cultivation – among other things, it is quite intolerant of direct sunlight, requires an air temperature between 8 and 20 °C (46 and 68 °F), and prefers high humidity in summer. This makes fully satisfying commercial demand impossible for growers, which makes wasabi quite expensive.[21][22][23] Therefore, outside Japan, finding real wasabi plants is rare.
A common substitute is a mixture of horseradish, mustard,starch, and green food colouring or spinach powder.[24] Often packages are labelled as wasabi while the ingredients do not include any part of the wasabi plant. The primary difference is colour, with wasabi being naturally green.[25] Fresh horseradish root is described as having a similar (albeit simpler) flavor and texture to that of fresh wasabi.[26]
In Japan, horseradish is referred to asseiyō wasabi (西洋わさび, "western wasabi").[27] Outside of Japan, where fresh wasabi is hard to obtain, a powdered mixture of horseradish and mustard oil, known askona wasabi, is used at a majority of sushi restaurants, including reputable ones.[28] In the United States, true wasabi is generally found only at specialty grocers and high-end restaurants.[29]
The chemical in wasabi that provides its initial pungency is the volatile compoundallyl isothiocyanate, which is produced byhydrolysis of allyl glucosinolate, a natural thioglucoside (conjugates of the sugar glucose and sulfur-containing organic compounds); the hydrolysis reaction is catalyzed bymyrosinase and occurs when the enzyme is released on cell rupture caused by maceration – e.g., grating – of the plant.[30][31][32] The same compound is responsible for the pungency of horseradish and mustard. Allyl isothiocyanate can also be released when the wasabi plants have been damaged because it is being used as a defense mechanism.[33] The sensory neural target of mustard oil is the chemosensory receptor,TRPA1, also known as the wasabi receptor.[34]
The unique flavour of wasabi is a result of complex chemical mixtures from the broken cells of the plant, including those resulting from the hydrolysis of thioglucosides, includingsinigrin[35] and other glucosinolates, into glucose and methylthioalkylisothiocyanates:[18][30][31]
Because the burning sensations of wasabi are not oil-based, they are short-lived compared to the effects ofcapsaicin inchilli peppers and are washed away with more food or liquid. The sensation is felt primarily in the nasal passage and can be painful depending on the amount consumed. Inhaling or sniffing wasabi vapor has an effect like smelling salts, a property exploited by researchers attempting to create a smoke alarm for the deaf. One deaf subject participating in a test of the prototype awoke within 10 seconds of wasabi vapour sprayed into his sleeping chamber.[37] The2011 Ig Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to the researchers for determining the ideal density of airborne wasabi to wake people in the event of an emergency.[38]
Wasabi is normally consumed in such small quantities that its nutritional value is negligible. The major constituents of raw wasabi root are carbohydrates (23.5%), water (69.1%), fat (0.63%), and protein (4.8%).[39]
Few places are suitable for large-scale wasabi cultivation, which is difficult even in ideal conditions. In Japan, wasabi is cultivated mainly in these regions:
Modern cultivars of wasabi mostly derive from three traditional cultivars, 'Fujidaruma', 'Shimane No. 3' and 'Mazuma'. Sequencing of the chloroplastic genome, which is inherited maternally in wasabi, supports this conclusion.[50]
^abc"Eutrema japonicum".North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox. North Carolina State University. n.d. Retrieved4 December 2022.
^"Wasabi – Botanical Notes" in P. N. Ravindran,The Encyclopedia of Herbs and Spices, 2017,ISBN978-1-78064-315-1, p. 1048
^Sultana, Tamanna; Savage, Geoffrey P; McNeil, David L; Porter, Noel G; Martin, Richard J; Deo, Bas (October 2002). "Effects of fertilisation on the allyl isothiocyanate profile of above-ground tissues of New Zealand-grown wasabi".Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.82 (13):1477–1482.Bibcode:2002JSFA...82.1477S.doi:10.1002/jsfa.1218.
^Gazzaniga, Donald A.; Gazzaniga, Maureen A. (2007)."Glossary".The No-Salt, Lowest-Sodium International Cookbook. Macmillan. p. 301.ISBN978-1-4668-1915-3. Retrieved9 August 2016.
^abHideki Masuda; Yasuhiro Harada; Kunio Tanaka; Masahiro Nakajima; Hideki Tabeta (1996). "Characteristic Odorants of Wasabi (Wasabia japonica matum), Japanese Horseradish, in Comparison with Those of Horseradish (Armoracia rusticana)".Biotechnology for Improved Foods and Flavors. ACS Symposium Series. Vol. 637.American Chemical Society. pp. 67–78.doi:10.1021/bk-1996-0637.ch006.ISBN9780841234215.
^Yu, E. Y.; Pickering, I. J.; George, G. N.; Prince, R. C. (15 August 2001). "In situ observation of the generation of isothiocyanates from sinigrin in horseradish and wasabi".Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - General Subjects.1527 (3):156–160.doi:10.1016/s0304-4165(01)00161-1.PMID11479032.
^"Basic Report: 11990, Wasabi, root, raw".National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference Legacy Release. United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. April 2018. Archived fromthe original on 13 July 2019. Retrieved11 August 2018.
^"(title in Japanese)" [Wasabi (Production)](xls) (in Japanese). Portal Site of Official Statistics of Japan. Retrieved10 August 2016.
^Gedye, Lynsey; Mellaerts, Michel Van (10 August 2014)."A Wasabi Growers Story – updated".World of Wasabi.Archived from the original on 29 July 2018. Retrieved30 June 2017.
A. Depree, J.; M. Howard, T.; P. Savage, G. (June 1998). "Flavour and pharmaceutical properties of the volatile sulphur compounds of Wasabi (Wasabia japonica)".Food Research International.31 (5):329–337.doi:10.1016/S0963-9969(98)00105-7.
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