Wasabi, commonly known as Japanese horseradish, is a member of the Brassicaceae plant family, which also includes other genera of horseradish and mustard. The plant is indigenous to Korea, Sakhalin, and the Russian Far East, including Japan. It naturally grows alongside stream beds in Japan's highland river valleys. It is cultivated for its rhizomes, which are mashed into a paste and used as a hot sauce for sushi and other dishes. Although it excites the nose more than the tongue and has a flavour akin to hot mustard or horseradish rather than chilli peppers, freshly grated wasabi has a subtly unique flavour. Wasabi's use as a cuisine is first documented in the eighth century AD. In English-speaking nations, wasabi and sushi have become more popular, with growth beginning around 1980. The western horseradish plant is typically utilised in place of the Japanese horseradish due to obstacles that prevent its bulk cultivation, raising its price and decreasing its availability outside of Japan. Western wasabi is a frequent name for this kind. Wasabi is typically sold as a dried powder, a ready-to-use paste, or a rhizome or stem that must be very finely grated before use. These forms of wasabi are typically sold in tubes resembling those used for toothpaste. Rhizome, stem, or "rhizome plus the base part of the stem" are all terms used to describe the component required to make wasabi paste.
Usually, wasabi is eaten with sushi but here we have listed a few ways in which you can eat wasabi that is not sushi.
Marinade raw meat
Wasabi has long been utilised in raw foods like sushi because it possesses antibacterial characteristics that are well known. Wasabi is also included in the dipping sauce for soba noodles, but more lately, creative uses for it are growing in popularity. Chicken should be marinated in sake, wasabi, salt, and pepper. When the chicken is finished cooking, add soy sauce to the pan along with the oil and marinade.
Use it with vegetable salads
Try shredding radishes into thin slices for a light salad with crunch and flavour. When finished, add a mixture of wasabi, soy sauce, vinegar, salad oil, and pepper. If you enjoy tofu, you can serve it with chopped tomatoes and edamame on top that have been seasoned with vinegar, soy sauce, salt, and wasabi.
Starches with wasabi
Wasabi don or "wasabi rice bowl" are two wasabi dishes that are popularizing. It is just plain cooked rice with wasabi, soy sauce, and dried bonito fish flakes on top. Try some wasabi carbonara if you'd rather have pasta! The richness of the sauce is cut through with a dash of wasabi.
Wasabi dips
Besides the sauces and dressings mentioned above, some further suggestions are plain yoghurt, honey, and wasabi dressing, yuzu juice, wasabi, and extra virgin olive oil as a sauce for carpaccio, and lemon juice and wasabi as a dip for grilled cuisine. The traditional miso-mayonnaise dip for raw veggies might additionally include wasabi.