Wasabi

2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29

Wasabi is known as Japanese horseradish. It is a type of Japanese spice with a light green color. Wasabi is often in the form of mustard with a very spicy but relatively short-lived taste. Wasabi is a spicy greenish sauce that is served with sushi and sashimi. It is very typical of Japanese cuisine. If you are a fan of chili sauce, you will appreciate the wasabi. Especially in winter, when this sauce can be very useful against the flu and colds. Let's find out what made wasabi so popular in cooking and serving food!

Wasabi is made from a plant resembling horseradish and traditionally and most often used to flavor sushi. Unlike sauces, which are based on chili extract, the spicy effect of wasabi is short-lived.

The plant is a root that was known as early as 1396, when the inhabitants of the Shizuoka area presented it as a gift to the future shogun. After this point, the plant spread to other parts of Japan and began to be cultivated at home. Wasabia japonica is a perennial aromatic herbaceous plant. Reaches 45 cm in height with heart-shaped leaves and white flowers. It blooms in April and May, and its taste is unevenly distributed at the root, and its upper part is more spicy. After about half a year, the rhizome begins to enlarge and thicken and can reach 5-15 cm.

Wasabi in Japan is also called hon wasabi and can only be found there. It grows in special conditions, in running water and at a temperature of 10-17 ° C. Most often, outside of Japan, no real plant is used, but a spice made from wasabi-daikon. This vegetable was brought from Japan to Europe. Unlike the original wasabi, its duplicate is white in color, which requires the addition of green dye. The wasabi double appears because the original root is quite expensive - the price varies from 300 to 800 BGN / kg, and it is also difficult to grow. It grows only in 5 regions in Japan.

Composition of wasabi

Wasabi contains a large amount of provitamin A, glycosides, B vitamins, vitamin C and mineral salts, most of which are sulfur. 100 g of wasabi contains 109 Kcal.

Selection and storage of wasabi

In Bulgaria, the consumption of sushi is already widespread, which is why wasabi is found in a number of stores. Wasabi must be stored in a dry and cool place. Once opened it should be stored in the refrigerator and used within a month.

Wasabi in cooking

Wasabi is called grated root paste. As a rule, the plant is grated only as much as needed at the moment, and the rest of the root is stored in the refrigerator, because the taste of wasabi is quite volatile and loses its aroma within 15 minutes. When making sushi, leaving the paste between the rice and the fish retains its aroma longer. Wasabi is also used as an additive for sandwiches, some other sauces, and there are even peanuts with wasabi shell on the market. A traditional addition to wasabi is Japanese sake.

Combined with wasabi mayonnaise is a great addition to eggs and cold meats. Wasabi, combined with ginger sauce, fresh coriander and garlic is used as a marinade for steaks.

In Japanese traditions wasabi roots they are cleaned with a brush, peeled and grated. Some Japanese sushi masters use only graters made of shark skin instead of ordinary graters. They believe that scraping with shark skin gives an incredible aroma to wasabi paste.

Fresh wasabi leaves and stalks can be marinated and you can prepare wasabi vinaigrette to serve on salads. Another tasty idea is to add a little wasabi paste to the mayonnaise and lemon juice to use as a dip for asparagus, French beans, peas and grilled meat.

All parts of the wasabi plant are edible, including the leaves and flowers, but the root is especially valuable.

Do not keep freshly prepared pasta unused for too long, otherwise it will start to lose its taste, as with many other spices.

To really appreciate the taste, let the freshly prepared wasabi paste stand for five minutes after cooking. This gives the aromas and warmth time to fully develop.

In Japan, the root is not only used for sashimi dishes, but is also used as an accompaniment to chicken dishes and seafood recipes. It is also used in sauces and dressings.

It is unusual to find fresh wasabi stems outside of Japan, but if you are lucky enough to see them on the market, make sure they are fresh and firm.

Benefits of wasabi

The use of hon wasabi has the ability to prevent tooth decay. Wasabi has strong antibacterial propertieswhich are especially useful when using raw fish. Wasabi is a valuable medicine because it has the unique ability to block the proliferation of cancer cells.

Wasabi Japanese has strong healing properties and is considered one of the factors for Japanese longevity. The root has anti-allergic and anti-asthmatic, even anti-anaphylactic properties, which makes it an excellent helper for asthmatics. Wasabi also has antimicrobial and anti-mold action, killing staphylococci and Escherichia coli. Wasabi also kills the dangerous Helicobacter Pylori, which causes ulcers and stomach cancer.

Furthermore wasabi has anticoagulant effectsis, which prevents the formation of blood clots in the blood. In terms of cancer treatment, wasabi is involved in blocking metastases and, at a later stage, destroying cancer cells without compromising normal ones. In this regard, wasabi is a powerful tool in patients with leukemia, breast cancer, problems with the bladder, prostate, pancreas, lungs and colon. Wasabi is useful in diabetes and has a detoxifying effect.

Wasabi contains Antioxidants and minerals such as potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, sodium and vitamins A, B-6, C and riboflavin, making it an extremely nutritious food source that benefits the health of your entire body.

Wasabi is an incredibly healthy spice that can be bought in the form of freshly made pasta or in the form of a root to grate. Add it to recipes with rice, salads, sushi, soups and roasts to make any meal fragrant and nutritious.

Just one teaspoon of wasabi root contains 11% of the recommended daily amount of vitamin C, which is a powerful antioxidant that helps keep the immune system strong.

The human body cannot synthesize its own vitamin C, which is why it is important to eat foods rich in vitamin C to prevent colds and flu and to keep the number of white blood cells, the soldiers of the immune system, at an optimal level..

While the body needs some good bacteria to function, exposure to bad bacteria can cause very serious illnesses and upset the balance in the digestive tract.

A 2004 study demonstrated wasabi's ability to kill pathogenic bacteria, making it an excellent natural antibiotic without any adverse side effects. Recent studies have ranked wasabi as the most successful antibacterial food against E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus, meaning it may even help prevent food poisoning.

As it has already become clear, wasabi prevents caries and bad breath.

Cavities are usually caused by a particular strain of bacteria that thrive in warm and humid areas and can be caused by the level of acidity and sugar in the mouth.

Some studies show that wasabi not only removes harmful bacteria from the mouth, but also restores alkalinity.

Harm from wasabi

Some people may have an allergic reaction to wasabi, although it is quite rare. Always be careful and wear protective gloves and a mask if you cut, scrape or crush the root, as the released substances can irritate your skin, eyes, nose and mouth.

Facts about wasabi

In terms of minerals, wasabi contains calcium, iron, manganese, magnesium, zinc, phosphorus and potassium, which are necessary for a balanced diet. It is also a valuable source of vitamins, including vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6, C and folic acid. In addition, there are high levels of isothiocyanates - an antioxidant that offers many health benefits.

Include wasabi in your diet. This will increase the intake of nutrients and will have a positive effect on your overall health.

Due to its excellent anti-inflammatory properties, consuming wasabi is a natural way to treat inflammatory conditions such as arthritis.

Toxins and carcinogens can cause molecular damage. And sometimes the accumulation of toxins exceeds the detoxifying ability of the liver. In such cases, you can rely on wasabi, as it is a natural detoxifier. It effectively removes toxins from the liver tissue and digestive system to keep you healthy.