What is the best wasabi?!

Namida 100% Pure Wasabi Powder is produced by a New Zealand Company and sold around the world. It can be found at http://www.wasabi.co.nz/order.html. There is also a website that reviews wasabi products, and these reviews can be found at http://www.wasabireviews.com. Another website that has started to carry out wasabi product reviews is http://wasabi.org.

My experience is that this Namida 100% Pure Wasabi Powder when prepared correctly is the closest I have tasted when compared to True Wasabi Rhizome.

The biggest problem is that most "wasabi" products on the market irrespective of whether they are powder or paste contain no or very little True wasabi, and even then it is likely to be leaf and not the rhizome. An article about this problem can be found at http://wasabi.org/articles/is-your-wasabi-really-coloured-horseradish/.

True wasabi is out there. It is just a matter of reading the back of the package to find out what the ingredients are. If it doesn't say 100% Pure Wasabia japonica then it isn't wasabi.

http://wasabi.org, http://www.wasabi.co.nz, http://www.wasabireviews.com

90% of the prepared and dried wasabi is regular horseradish,mustard powder and filler with green food colour, some have less than 5% wasabi in them, fresh is getting easier to find, the one in the tubes seem better, but like regular horseradish it does loose some of it's effect and kick over time.

I use real wasabi root in both Canada and Japan when I was a chef, and have bought it at times here in Toronto Canada, in Japanese and Asian stores. It is a hit and miss thing, it is best to check around town, I know of only a few on-line site that sell it.

Apparently the taste difference between true wasabi and the stuff commonly avaliable is worlds apart (I haven't tried it either). I have enough trouble getting the lurid green stuff in the tube. I have heard that the powder is a better flavour because you mix it up to a paste yourself but am not sure how accurate that is because I've not tried anything but the paste.

Goodluck!

I've never seen real wasabi root in any of the asian markets I go to either and all I really know is the wasabi I get when eating sushi which we both know, isn't real wasabi, but it's all I know.

That said...
When I try and duplicate it, I've dried the powder and don't care for it. Seems bitter to me. I prefer the paste that's in the tube to the powder, but the best one I've tried is a jarred one but the label has fallen off and I don't know the brand.
Good luck

I prefer fresh wasabi root, but it can be difficult to find here in Australia. The best alternative is the House Spice brand Japanese horseradish paste, which is a very good substitute.

Japanese Pantry Essentials http://japan-australia.blogspot.com/2010…

Japan Australia Blog
http://japan-australia.blogspot.com/2010…

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