Most Wasabi Is Fake [video] • Hacker News Board

Re: Most Wasabi Is Fake [video]

#11

Post by psyclobe » Wed, Mar 20, 2019, 10:57 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #5

In high-end Japanese restaurants, you can often get real wasabi (it'll be listed at the bottom of the menu). My experience with it has been that it's usually coarser, more watery, and less pungent than the "standard" wasabi. I do not prefer it; whatever combination of horseradish and mustard restaurants default to is, I think, the better product. If I was eating wasabi on its own and trying to, I don't know, apprecia…

I agree, even when I do have the option of getting 'real' wasabi I always prefer the horse radish based one.

Re: Most Wasabi Is Fake [video]

#12

Post by pushpop » Wed, Mar 20, 2019, 11:04 PM UTC

Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #3

So is most truffle oil. Canned reindeer meat in the Nordic countries can be up to 40% pork. Budget-brand soy sauce might actually be "soy sauce powder" mixed with water, as opposed to something straightforwardly brewed. If you travel the developing world, you may find that what is sold as chocolate actually has no cacao in it. Lots and lots of disappointments out there in the food world. I find reading labels careful…

I few years ago I was was reading the back of a can of New York style hotdogs and realised the main ingredient was chicken. By a substantial margin too. Ever since then I’ve been sceptical about the contents of products I buy.

Re: Most Wasabi Is Fake [video]

#13

Post by nightfly » Wed, Mar 20, 2019, 11:05 PM UTC

pushpop wrote: post #12

Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #3

So is most truffle oil. Canned reindeer meat in the Nordic countries can be up to 40% pork. Budget-brand soy sauce might actually be "soy sauce powder" mixed with water, as opposed to something straightforwardly brewed. If you travel the developing world, you may find that what is sold as chocolate actually has no cacao in it. Lots and lots of disappointments out there in the food world. I find reading labels careful…

I few years ago I was was reading the back of a can of New York style hotdogs and realised the main ingredient was chicken. By a substantial margin too. Ever since then I’ve been sceptical about the contents of products I buy.

> can of New York style hotdogs

I think they've already failed at being "New York style".

Re: Most Wasabi Is Fake [video]

#14

Post by davidw » Wed, Mar 20, 2019, 11:06 PM UTC

Some people are growing it in Oregon:

http://www.thewasabistore.com/the-farm

I recall reading about a past attempt in Oregon that failed, a while back. Apparently it's not easy.

Re: Most Wasabi Is Fake [video]

#15

Post by atomical » Wed, Mar 20, 2019, 11:08 PM UTC

At what point does fake become the real thing? Do people really aspire to more than they are getting? At some point _pure_ becomes obnoxious.

Re: Most Wasabi Is Fake [video]

#16

Post by etaioinshrdlu » Wed, Mar 20, 2019, 11:09 PM UTC

Horseradish is a very nice vegetable anyways. I would eat it with sushi, I just wish people had the honesty not to put coloring in it and call it something it's not.

Re: Most Wasabi Is Fake [video]

#17

Post by naravara » Wed, Mar 20, 2019, 11:09 PM UTC

Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #3

So is most truffle oil. Canned reindeer meat in the Nordic countries can be up to 40% pork. Budget-brand soy sauce might actually be "soy sauce powder" mixed with water, as opposed to something straightforwardly brewed. If you travel the developing world, you may find that what is sold as chocolate actually has no cacao in it. Lots and lots of disappointments out there in the food world. I find reading labels careful…

All because everyone wants champagne taste on a beer budget. It reminds me of a Frank Lloyd Wright quote when someone asked for a $5k house and he says “Are you sure you want a $5,000 house? Most people want a $10,000 house for $5,000.”

They could just pitch these as cheaper substitutions and it wouldn’t be so annoying.

Re: Most Wasabi Is Fake [video]

#18

Post by asn0 » Wed, Mar 20, 2019, 11:10 PM UTC

After many years of peak wasabi use (i.e. highest saturation possible) at Japanese restaurants in the US, I had a chance to eat sushi while on a trip to Shanghai.

I don't know if Chinese wasabi is more real or not, but quickly learned it had at least 10x more sinus-cleaning power than US wasabi.

That was also the first place where I had 'not possible to be any fresher' sushi - orders were placed at the fish tanks on the first floor, restaurant was upstairs.

Re: Most Wasabi Is Fake [video]

#19

Post by Stratoscope » Wed, Mar 20, 2019, 11:13 PM UTC

I love the fresh real wasabi from The Wasabi Store in Oregon. A good place to start is their gift pack which includes a wasabi grater and brush:

http://www.thewasabistore.com/shop/gift-pack-wasabi-box-culi...

They are nice people who grow delicious wasabi! (No affiliation, just a happy customer.)

Re: Most Wasabi Is Fake [video]

#20

Post by ericdykstra » Wed, Mar 20, 2019, 11:14 PM UTC

I can get a chunk of wasabi for about $6 at my local greengrocer in Tokyo. Unless you plan on eating a lot of sashimi at home within the next few days, though, it’s not practical since it goes bad much faster than the tube stuff.

The taste is substantially better than the fake stuff, but it doesn’t really matter if you’re eating at a cheap place that doesn’t properly prepare the nigiri rice.