WEBVTT - Why Doesn't My Sushi Come with Real Wasabi?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Boga bam here. If the wassabi

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<v Speaker 1>that the waiter brings out to a company your sushi

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<v Speaker 1>could talk, it would have some explaining to do. It's

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<v Speaker 1>highly unlikely that that pungent green paste is the real thing.

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<v Speaker 1>It's probably not even close. The wissabi served in American

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<v Speaker 1>restaurants is actually a mixture of mustard, horseradish, and green

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<v Speaker 1>food coloring. That's because real sabi is very expensive, sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>more than a hundred dollars a pound outside of Japan.

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<v Speaker 1>Though even in Japan it's rare for restaurants to use

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<v Speaker 1>it because it's not cheap and it must be freshly graded.

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<v Speaker 1>The part of the wisabi plant that's used as a

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<v Speaker 1>condiment is the rhizome. It's a root like stem that

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<v Speaker 1>grows underground, like ginger or potatoes. The whole plant is

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<v Speaker 1>actually edible, but the rhizome is especially prized for its

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<v Speaker 1>sharp flavors. If you're lucky enough to go to a

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<v Speaker 1>restaurant serving the real thing, they may even bring the

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<v Speaker 1>rhizome to the table along with greater so that they

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<v Speaker 1>can grade it as freshly as possible for you. That's

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<v Speaker 1>because wassabi starts to lose its kick around fifteen minutes

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<v Speaker 1>after being graded or cut. Because that amazing kick comes

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<v Speaker 1>from one of the plant's defense mechanisms, and it's not

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<v Speaker 1>a permanent feature of the rhizome. You see, Wasabi doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>have much scent until it's cut or grated. But when

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<v Speaker 1>its cell walls are broken, say by the teeth of

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<v Speaker 1>a hungry herbivore or a chef's knife, compounds from inside

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<v Speaker 1>and outside those cells mix and undergo a chemical chain

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<v Speaker 1>reaction that creates pot tasting compounds during one phase of

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<v Speaker 1>the chain. This is an evolutionary trait meant to deter

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<v Speaker 1>animals from eating the plant, But suckers, we humans have

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<v Speaker 1>decided that we dig that flavor. While imitation with sabi

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<v Speaker 1>is very hot with a mustard pepper sort of flavor,

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<v Speaker 1>the real stuff doesn't have the same harshness or burn

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<v Speaker 1>and tastes more vegetile, earthy, and smooth with just a

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<v Speaker 1>hint of sweetness. Was Sabi is so expensive because it's

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<v Speaker 1>hard to cul to eight. It's known as the hardest

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<v Speaker 1>plant to grow commercially in the world. The best was

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<v Speaker 1>zabi called Sabo sabi is grown in flooded beds of

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<v Speaker 1>gravel or preferably in cool mountain streams. The roots sink

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<v Speaker 1>down into the soil below, the rhizomes grow in the gravel,

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<v Speaker 1>and the leaf stems poke up above the water. Lower

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<v Speaker 1>quality plants are grown in fields in soil called oka

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<v Speaker 1>wasabi for processing into dried powder for snack crackers and

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<v Speaker 1>the like. But either way, was sabi's leaves and stems

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<v Speaker 1>are brittle. It wants temperatures to stay between fifty and

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<v Speaker 1>seventy degrees fahrenheit that's about eight to twenty celsius, and

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<v Speaker 1>like me, it won't tolerate direct sunlight. It doesn't do

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<v Speaker 1>well in greenhouses, so it can really only be grown

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<v Speaker 1>in appropriate natural environments. So when restaurants are trying to

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<v Speaker 1>keep costs down, they substitute the aforementioned horse radish mixture

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<v Speaker 1>for real was sabi. The reason this works is because

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<v Speaker 1>both ingredients get their pungency from the same family of

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<v Speaker 1>herbivore deterrent compounds called isothiot Science nates and scientists are

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<v Speaker 1>looking into a sabi's medicinal properties. It appears to relieve

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<v Speaker 1>allergy symptoms, fight cancer, and inhibit bacterial growth, though more

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<v Speaker 1>research is needed. The antimicrobial attribute might be why it

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<v Speaker 1>traditionally accompanies sushi. It's a way of counteracting any possible

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<v Speaker 1>ill effects of eating raw fish. Today's episode was written

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<v Speaker 1>by Katherine Whitburn and produced by Tyler Clang. The brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff is production of I Heart Radios How Stuff Works.

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<v Speaker 1>To learn more about the history, science, and culture of sabi,

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<v Speaker 1>check out my other podcast, Saber. We did an episode

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<v Speaker 1>on it in December, and of course, for more on

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<v Speaker 1>this and lots of other hot topics, visit our home

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<v Speaker 1>planet has Stuff works dot com plus for more podcasts

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