Waaaasabi!

Today I thought that I would post a picture I took a while ago while at an Asian Specialty store on St. Marks St in the Village, NYC. While browsing through the vast aisles of asian products that I could only half figure out what they were, this little sucker caught my eye. Fresh wasabi eh? I had never seen the stuff before, and all I could associate wasabi to in my chef-like brain was the little green ball that is placed on your plate every time you order sushi. Surely this root couldn't be the same as that powdered green goo you squeeze from a tube, or make from powder in a can with some water? 

I decided to do a little searching and came upon this information:

Wasabi is Japanese horseradish. It is most famous in form of a green paste used as condiment for sashimi (raw seafood) and sushi. However, wasabi is also used for many other Japanese dishes.

Wasabi is a root vegetable that is grated into a green paste. In supermarkets, wasabi is widely available as a paste or in powder form. Wasabi powder has to be mixed with water to become a paste. Wasabi has a strong, hot flavour which dissipates within a few seconds and leaves no burning aftertaste in one's mouth.

Many "wasabi" powder and paste products that are available in supermarkets (and even some restaurants) contain only very little or no real wasabi at all and are made of coloured horseradish instead. This is due to the fact that cultivation of real wasabi is relatively difficult and expensive.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2311.html

Very interesting. I can't wait till I decide to make some serious sushi/sashimi and get my hands on the real stuff. I wonder how different the taste really is?