Wasabi - Genuine or Fake? The Truth Is Out

After enjoying some of what we thought was authentic Wasabi paste and some California Roll Sushi in The FatPride Times breakroom a little research led to some interesting results. Genuine Wasabi is not easily found - what we had was horseradish and food coloring being sold as Wasabi. From the website freshwasabi.com: "Don't be fooled. The green smooth textured clump on the side of your sushi dish is rarely real wasabi. More commonly it is ordinary horseradish with food coloring added. Real wasabi is one of the rarest and most difficult vegetables in the world to grow. Few geographical areas are suited for growing wasabi. We are fortunate that our micro climate in Florence, Oregon is ideally suited for growing fresh wasabi".

Lesson to be learned is something about watching something or other - you know what we mean. Looking at the ingredients listing on our box of Wasabi found us with horseradish and food coloring.