What’s the story of Wasabi in Japanese Culture?

The Wasabi Plant

This unique plant is a delicate creature. It grows in the cold mountain streams of Japan, needing to face north all the time in stable weather conditions year-round. It can only be fully harvested in 2 to 4 years when it has attained reasonably bulk. This makes the plant a highly priced spice commodity. However, since it can also grow in soil, if extremely wet and with little sunshine, the wasabi plant became more accessible and its products mass-produced in less time.

Wasabi has been written about in Japanese manuscripts since the 10th century, being used as food and drug, as well as in the form of paying taxes. In the Middle Ages, it was being used as ingredient and spice, and only by the late 18th century was wasabi massively cultivated. The stem of the wasabi looks delicate and the roots are slim, and the leaves are large though. Yet the unbelievable pungency of this plant is so strong, it is sometimes called a punch. When its roots are grated, the release of a particular strong enzyme gives that punch to the nose.
Apart from flavoring many Japanese dishes, wasabi is believed to have anti-bacterial properties, and is an anti-inflammatory and analgesic agent.

Wasabi at Lynnwood Japanese Restaurant

If you are craving for the perfect Japanese sushi and sashimi, no reason to look further than Wild Wasabi Sushi in Lynnwood. The traditional, perfect spice accompanies your favorite dish and comes as authentic and as wild as grown in the north of Japan. The business, however, also makes true soil-grown wasabi available as your spice when need be, the two types bearing no difference in punch.