healthiest vegetable cooking oil mustard oil organic

If you’ve ever eaten sushi, you’re likely familiar with the beautiful, pistachio-green, paste-like dollop of color known as wasabi that typically adorns the plates of rolls and sashimi.

I’m sure you can recall that first time when the somewhat painful rush of vapors hit your nasal passages combined with the wakame seaweed, rice, soy and a horseradish-like blend of flavors. You may have even been warned to have just a little bit mixed with your soy sauce, but did you heed the warning?

It’s the mustard-like taste mixed with the excitingly burning feeling of wasabi that many long for when eating their sushi, and due to its popularity, it’s now become a favorite among other treats, such as wasabi peas and wasabi popcorn.

Fortunately, when you get your hands on some real wasabi (and not the fake stuff that’s commonly offered in restaurants) it also has a host of health benefits — everything from improving gut health to treating foodborne illnesses and even potentially combatting cancer cells. So let’s dig in and clear our sinuses with this powerful flavor-enhancer.

What Is Wasabi?

True wasabi comes from the root-like stem, or rhizome — which is similar to the consistency of fresh ginger — scientifically known as Wasabia japonica. It’s part of the Cruciferae family and a relative to plants like cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, horseradish and mustard greens.

Wasabi is generally cultivated in Japan, and it’s sometimes referred to as Japanese horseradish. It has an extremely strong and stimulating flavor that’s accompanied by a burning sensation. The pungent constituents of wasabi come from allyl isothiocyanate (AITC), which is known as mustard oil and derived from cruciferous vegetables. AITC forms in wasabi immediately after the root is grated very finely, when a glucosinolate in wasabi reacts with the enzyme myrosinase.

The wasabi plant grows naturally along stream beds in the mountain valleys of Japan. Growing wasabi is difficult, which is why real wasabi is hard to come by in restaurants. Wild wasabi only thrives in certain areas of Japan, but farmers in other locations, including the U.S., have made an effort to create the perfect environmental conditions for the plant.

It’s true that real wasabi provides a range of health benefits, but how do you know that you’re eating the real thing? Interestingly, this Asian superfood you’ve eaten may actually be a fake. Instead, it’s likely a good substitute containing horseradish root, mustard and a little food coloring. Even in Japan, where it’s derived, getting the real thing may be a challenge.

It’s also common to see European horseradish as wasabi’s replacement in many culinary dishes. Why? A few reasons lead to this. One is that horseradish still provides that nasal vapor, even if kept overnight, whereas the pungency of real wasabi only lasts for about 15 minutes. This is why it’s best to grate it as you need it. Ideally, you would have your rhizome and your own grater at a restaurant so you get it as fresh as possible.

The flavor is greatly affected by how finely it’s grated. Traditionally, the best way to grate wasabi is by using a sharkskin grater, called an oroshi, which resembles fine sandpaper.

So why are we getting the wasabi runaround? It provides challenges due to the difficulty in its cultivation process. Because of this, some companies opt for growth and production using greenhouses. They produce and sell fresh and freeze-dried wasabi rhizomes, jars and tubes of wasabi paste, powder and other condiments flavored with wasabi. For all you sushi lovers out there, you may be able to get the real thing soon.

So how do you know if you have real wasabi? Of course, you can do a little research and ask if you’re trying to seek a true wasabi menu. True wasabi is known as Sawa wasabi, and it’s usually treated as a delicacy. It also tastes more herbal than the horseradish, and while it’s hot, it doesn’t have the lingering, burning aftertaste that you may be used to with the imposter. It tastes smoother, cleaner, fresher, and more plant-like or earthy than horseradish.

Why do we eat wasabi with sushi? It’s meant to accentuate the delicate taste of fish. The taste of real wasabi enhances the taste of sushi, while some argue that the taste of “fake wasabi” is actually too strong for delicate fish and overpowers sushi. You wouldn’t get that “my mouth is on fire” feeling from the real thing.