Wasabi is a Japanese local plant. Its name has been mentioned in old literature from the Nara era (year 710 ~ 794) and by the Kamakura era (year 1192 ~ 1333), wasabi was used as edible food. It is said that wasabi cultivation started about 400 years ago during the Keicho period (year 1596 ~ 1615) at Utougi in Okouchi village, Abe County (Utougi, Aoi district, Shizuoka city today) and has spread to other areas, such as Izu.
Shizuoka is one of the major production areas of wasabi. It takes up 58% of the whole wasabi production in Japan. Plenty of cool spring water creates the best condition to grow wasabi and has kept the first rank position in quality and production rate in Japan.
JCI has its school building in Atami, Shizuoka. To train Washoku chefs that spread the authentic taste, we include local wasabi farm visits in our Chef training course with the assistance of Shizuoka prefecture’s wasabi producer cooperative
Wasabi can be divided into two major types. “Mazuma wasabi” is used in Kaiseki course restaurants and high-end sushi restaurants. “Mishoukei wasabi” can be found in diner and supermarkets.
Mazuma wasabi takes one and a half year to two years to grow, bringing out the best taste of the wasabi. Because of this, the scent and the balance of spiciness and sweetness are on the spot making it the “King of wasabi”.
On the other hand, Mishokei wasabi is indispensable.
It grows fast and can be harvested in about a year. The fast production process creates a moderate level of spiciness, but it has enough scent and it is a necessary spice for Japanese households.
In summary, Mazuma wasabi is made to be used in special dish and Mishokei wasabi are made for daily use. Each of them has its own charm and using them understanding their purpose makes wasabi more enjoyable. Other than its original wasabi plants, wasabi are sold in powder or paste. You can find them all around the world and each of them has different taste, scents, and color. If you can understand each characteristics and learn the way to arrange them in the right way, wasabi can be used as one of your assets as a “real” Washoku chef.
The main purpose of the wasabi farm visit in our training is to gain the knowledge about wasabi so that they can be used as a skill. You can enjoy the scent of the fresh wasabi farm and learn from the farmers by listening some of the secrets that you cannot hear usually.
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