At 04:27 AM 19/06/2004, you wrote:
>(I can't believe I am writing in an OT food post :-) )
>
>Are you sure? I know there are fake Wasabi around, but I was under the
>impression that most wasabi from reputable restaurants and genuine Japanese
>food market etc. are the real thing.
Nope. *All* are fakes, as far as I can tell. If you look at the list of
ingredients on a typical tube of wasabi paste or can of wasabi powder, its
major ingredient is always good ol' common garden-variety horseradish, with
green food colouring added. Edmonton's got a *huge* native Asian community
with dozens of food stores catering to the various and sundry oriental
palates, and even the pure Japanese ones do not sell genuine wasabi. It's
either too volatile, too expensive, too hard to come by, or all three. Oh,
and by the way, many oriental market suppliers (and a surprising number of
Japanese) are unaware of how much "fake" wasabi is out there.
I've been looking for readily-available true wasabi in commercial Asian
food stores for ten years. I've known of its existence at least that long,
i.e., that there was indeed a difference. So far, no luck. But I live in
hope. 8^>
Garth
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