Why not use freshly grated wasabi rhizomes to create a taste of Japanese cuisine in your favourite dish? Real wasabi has always been strongly associated with sushi, sashimi, and soba noodles. At Wasabi Crop, we want to change this and encourage all our customers to create a fantastic new flavour in their cooking by grating and using real fresh wasabi.
Just imagine being able to obtain real wasabi and not having to use the fake stuff sold in supermarkets and served in restaurants. Today, our customers are able to buy fresh wasabi rhizomes from the Wasabi Crop Store and add them to their favourite pasta, chicken, and tofu dishes. This creativity in using wasabi does not stop here; you can add it to energise your roasted legumes and layer freshly grated wasabi paste over fish and rice dishes.
All your friends will envy you when you tell them that you have real wasabi on your ham sandwiches. This pinch of fresh wasabi will enhance the flavour and bring you the Japanese experience of cooking with this herb.
The more adventurous home chefs can experiment by adding grated wasabi paste to vanilla ice cream or infusing its flavour with chocolate.
At Christmas, I made a range of cocktails by adding some wasabi paste it was amazing in gin and vodka: imagine what you could do with your favourite beverage.
At Wasabi Crop, we have compiled some quick and straightforward recipes to enable our customers to explore the real taste of wasabi in their creative dishes.
We have all had a bowl of salad containing raw vegetables. Now, you have the chance to create a more interesting salad by using wasabi leaves and stems to give it a wasabi kick. Just visit the Wasabi Crop Shop to buy some delicious wasabi leaves and stems before they run out.
Moreover, wasabi will take pride and place in your kitchen, having your friends around to grate the fresh rhizome in front of them. They will not be disappointed!
The central theme of how to use wasabi can be demonstrated in the three traditional Japanese dishes:
Sushi and Sashimi
In Japanese cooking, a small portion of freshly grated wasabi is tucked inside sushi during preparation and therefore, no wasabi is served on the side. Conversely, if you find wasabi on the side of your sushi or sashimi, it signals that you should mix it with soy sauce provided in a small dish. It is known as sashimi when raw salmon or tuna is served without rice. This is contrary to sushi, which is solely raw fish but vinegared rice combined with ingredients such as raw fish.
Cold Soba Noodles
A favourite Japanese dish is cold soba noodles served with a light soy-based sauce infused with freshly grated wasabi. In most cases, the wasabi is mixed with the soy sauce, and the noodles are dipped into the sauce before consuming. In a high-end restaurant, the diner will be provided with a small rhizome and grater so that they can experience the process of preparing fresh wasabi to enjoy with their soba noodles.
Pickled Wasabi Zuke
A more traditional Japanese dish is pickled wasabi zuke. This interesting dish was developed by merchants in Fuchu, who used sake lees. This dish is easily prepared by chopping up and salting the wasabi leaves and stems before pickling them in sake lees, which can then be further seasoned with salt and sugar. However, this dish continues to be modified by adding a range of herbs and spices to engage with different flavours as to the customer’s preference.
These simple dishes are interesting because the wasabi kick starts when the food is macerated in the mouth. This process produces infused flavours similar to the fine grating of a fresh rhizome.
When cooking with wasabi paste, it is important not to expose it to the air for too long. This is because the volatile nature of the active ingredient, allyl isothiocyanate, in wasabi mainly contributes to its unique flavour and overall heat sensation. The wasabi experience will last at least 20 minutes, so it is important to enjoy every single moment of it!
Enjoy Cooking with Wasabi Rhizomes
Gremolata on Steak
Gremolata is a traditional Italian dish consisting of chopped herbs, lemon zest, garlic, and parsley served on a Milanese braised veal shank. The basic ingredients of Gremolata are mostly grated lemon peel to inject with the zest. However, other citrus fruits such as grapefruit, lime, and orange can also be used. The modern Gremolata dish leaves out coriander, parsley, sage and mint. This allows the addition of freshly grated wasabi rhizome to your combination: the Gremolata will be a more interesting dish with extra taste and richness. Wasabi Gremolata will add a special taste to braised meats such as osso bucco, kurobuta pork and rare steaks. Wasabi will be a great addition to seafood, such as halibut or tuna.
Mayonnaise
One of the simplest wasabi recipes is to create wasabi mayonnaise. This is easily and quickly prepared by mixing one full teaspoon of wasabi paste and a quarter of a cup of mayonnaise to provide a delicious spread for your sandwiches.
Deviled Eggs
When you hard boil an egg, remove the shell and cut it in half to see the yoke and obtain the deviled egg. The yoke is then blended with mayonnaise and mustard. To prepare the wasabi-deviled egg, just mix the wasabi paste with mayonnaise and place it where the yoke used to be. These wasabi-deviled eggs can be served cold or as a side dish.
Glazed Salmon
Wasabi-glazed salmon is prepared by combining two full teaspoons of freshly grated rhizome with two tablespoons of soy sauce. To this mixture, add two tablespoons of maple sugar and two minced garlic cloves. Then, lightly dress the wasabi sauce over the salmon and marinate for at least 30 minutes. Finally, complete the dish by baking in the oven for at least 20 minutes at 350°F until the salmon flakes.
Mashed Potatoes
Why not make potatoes more interesting by blending wasabi into them? To do this, boil three pounds of potatoes with skins on and mash them together using melted butter. Then add one cup of Greek yoghurt, followed by the magic ingredient of one tablespoon of wasabi paste with a pinch of salt to taste.
Enjoy Japanese cooking with fresh wasabi with the compliments of Wasabi Crop.