Wasabi is a rather delicate root vegetable that is meant to be consumed within minutes of being freshly grated, and is fairly expensive.

Nearly all restaurants in the United States serve a completely different product with your maguro-sushi. Horseradish and mustard dyed green, a pale imitation of the real thing.

Up for grabs is a tube of the real stuff. Though nothing like fresh-grated, it's still much better than the fake. You should find it slightly less hot, slightly more sweet, and accompanied by a distinct taste of umami that horseradish can't duplicate.

Open to all members in good standing. The winner will be determined in a purely arbitrary manner at a time unbeknownst even to me. Winner must repond in a reasonable amount of time, or an alternate will be selected. You must be able to provide a physical mailing address for UPS (no PO boxes) in the United States. I reserve the right to change or modify rules at any time.

To enter, post your favorite wasabi story or experience, like the time a co-worker of mine popped a whole thing of wasabi in his mouth thinking it was guacamole.

Best of luck!


Wasabi by kpkina, on Flickr

This message has been edited. Last edited by: kkina, September 11, 2024 11:58 AM

I am not sure if I have ever had true wasabi. I like what I get in the restaurants, but just not sure if it is the real deal or not. I would like to enter your karma, and thanx.

Heck yeah!! Always wanted to try the real deal

Include me please.
My story is about my son who was 17 at the time. Once a year my entire family would eat Chinese at a buffet. My brother and I offered my son $30 to eat a table spoon of Wasabi. My son never had it before and went on the bet.
After he swallowed it, the look on his face was priceless. The look was how the he'll could you do this to me!
He spent a good 30 minutes in the restroom after that.

^I actually did that once on a bet, and I did know better. Felt pretty bad all the way down to my stomach for a good 20 minutes, maybe longer. And the bastage reneged on the bet! He still owes me a bottle of Scotch.

Oh heck yeah! At work quite a few years ago, several of us chipped in on a bribe dare with our coworker, Latia. I think we offered $20 for her to down a heaping spoonful of ‘wasabi’, which she promptly did. Then the poor girl bolted for the bathroom, but didn’t make it. She painted the wall of the hallway with her yarf, and took the rest of the day off to recover! Thanks for the fun chance!

The Publix supermarket that I go to has an Asian lady there, making sushi every Wednesday for five bucks / tray.

They include some of the green-dyed horseradish as described by kkina; I would really like to try some real Wasabi with it.

seems like this great karma should also come with some marudaizu nama shoyu.

Real (hon wasabi) is rare in many "sushi" restaurants in Japan even. This is a real treat!

Don't enter me - I have hon wasabi already...

Back in high school, first time I had sushi, a bunch of us went to eat with husband and wife teachers from our school (the cool teachers).

Two of my friends got into a wasabi competition, eating progressively larger globs of wasabi until they were both sweating and gulping water. The rest of us were entertained.

I've never had real wasabi, but I have always wanted to try it. I don't have an interesting story about wasabi though. I love the American fake wasabi, and I am very uncouth about it; I blend my wasabi and soy together before I dip my sashimi in it. I know that would get some strange looks if I did that in Japan.

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I go eat sushi at the sushi go round every few weeks by work. They have the green horseradish.

HOLY SHIT, I'd love to bring this in with me!!!!!

I had no idea wasabi wasn't horseradish. Please include me for this opportunity and thanks for the education!

Trivia: in Japan, wasabi generally isn't served on the side in sushi-ya (sushi restaurants) except for sashimi. Getting a dab of wasabi for sushi other than sashimi is a US thing.

Real (hon) wasabi is also served as a condiment to fresh (made daily) tofu; sometimes served already grated. Sometimes grate yourself - the traditional wasabi grater is made of shark skin.

Please don’t enter me in this karma as I have been on the receiving end of some really great karmas lately.

My wasabi story…

I had some powdered wasabi that came with my wife. It was a little can and I made some. It was easy, just add water. I tasted it and it was complete trash. No heat, none at all. I almost threw it out, but my wife would have been pissed. So I put the can back.
Fast forward a month and she was making some wasabi. I told her that powder was trash and it has no spice to it at all. She told me it’s spicy and made some. I scoffed and put a decent ball of it on a piece of sashimi and put it in my mouth. I nearly choked to death. It was absolute fire. Lit my sinuses up like you can’t imagine.
Turns out that if you make wasabi with cold water, it’s got zero heat. If you make it with boiling water, it’s a game changer and will lite your sinuses on fire.

Please don’t enter me in the karma, but some general info:

“Wasabi (Japanese: ワサビ, わさび, or 山葵, pronounced [waꜜsabi]) or Japanese horseradish (Eutrema japonicum[3] syn. Wasabia japonica)[4] is a plant of the family Brassicaceae, which also includes horseradishand mustard in other genera. The plant is native to Japan and the Russian Far East[1]including Sakhalin, as well as the Korean Peninsula.[5]: 133  It grows naturally along stream beds in mountain river valleys in Japan…”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasabi

Definitely down for this!!! In college, we used to go to a Chinese buffet and have contests to see who could eat a bigger ball of "wasabi". Stupid things you do in youth.

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
I go eat sushi at the sushi go round every few weeks by work. They have the green horseradish.

quote:

Trivia: in Japan, wasabi generally isn't served on the side in sushi-ya (sushi restaurants) except for sashimi. Getting a dab of wasabi for sushi other than sashimi is a US thing.

That's right. In Japan, it is the chef who is expected to put on the proper amount of wasabi.

quote:

Originally posted by kkina:

quote:

Trivia: in Japan, wasabi generally isn't served on the side in sushi-ya (sushi restaurants) except for sashimi. Getting a dab of wasabi for sushi other than sashimi is a US thing.

That's right. In Japan, it is the chef who is expected to put on the proper amount of wasabi.

Thanks, konata and kkina.


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I was on a business trip with the VP I reported to visiting a Korean company in San Diego. Our contact knew of a great Japanese restaurant that had excellent bento so we went there.

Not long after the bento arrived the VP (seated next to me) started jumping up and down in his chair, eyes and nose flowing like a faucet. He quickly devoured his water and came up coughing. I looked at his bento box trying to see what he ate and if there was a possible reaction or allergy. The little ball of wasabi was missing and.... <mental math.... carry the one > yes, he popped the entire ball in his mouth thinking it was part of an appetizer.

What makes this a little more entertaining is that he was from India and known for enjoying spicy food. Apparently he wasn't prepared for what a nickle sized ball of wasabi does to your sinuses That coupled with the two other people at the table nearly falling out of their chairs in a giggle fit made it a surreal experience.