Wasabi fans, you've been fooled
That wasabi you enjoyed recently was probably about as real as any Elvis seen recently in Vegas.
Indeed, you may never have had real wasabi, even if you're old enough to have seen the real Elvis, reports the Washington Post.
"What sushi restaurants actually serve alongside spicy tuna rolls is a horseradish-based concoction that is injected with green food coloring, infused with various types of mustard, and, often even, a bunch of other chemicals," writes WashPo reporter Roberto A. Ferdman.
The real deal, made from the stem of the wasabi plant, is rare, even in Japan, said Brian Oats, president of Pacific Coast Wasabi, which grows the authentic article.
Wasabi is a cousin to horseradish, since both are in the cabbage family, but they aren't the same.
The fake rate is 99 percent in North America, 95 percent in Japan, Oats told Ferdman.
Sometimes a tiny bit of the real stuff is added, maybe less than 1 percent, Oats said.
No pumpkin in that Pumpkin Spice Latte
Tough to grow, true wasabi is costly. A typical ball served with sushi would sell for $3 to $5, Oats estimated.
"Wasabi powder" sold in supermarkets is often mostly a horseradish-mustard blend with perhaps some of real stuff to legitimize wording such as "made with wasabi."
Eden Organic, for example, advertises online "Wasabi Powder - Japanese horseradish," but candidly discloses the ingredients: "Horseradish, Mustard, Wasabi."
Wasabi peas, by the way, may look like they're some exotic plant part, but they're simply dried peas coated with seasoning.
The substitute "was first created in Japan, before it came to America," Hiroko Shimbo, author of The Sushi Experience. told the Post.
Contact staff writer Peter Mucha at 215-854-4342 or pmucha@phillynews.com. Follow @petemucha on Twitter.
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