But the domestic eating Chinese food, I do not know from when, the table has sashimi, popular in the soy sauce put some wasabi.

The green toothpaste-like, squeezed in the soy sauce on a section, eat really let people "enlightenment", rushed through the nasal cavity until the brain, this spicy flavor is exciting.

Once, a friend invited me to eat a high-class Japanese restaurant.

After the sushi and sashimi, I asked the waiter for some wasabi, and the waiter said,

"Sir, I'm sorry, we don't have wasabi here, only wasabi."

At the time, I was a bit puzzled, isn't wasabi the same thing as wasabi? Is there a difference?

Halfway through the Japanese food, my friend pointed to the wasabi in the dish and said,

"This restaurant is famous in Hangzhou, and this wasabi has a positive flavor, unlike other Japanese restaurants that use horseradish."

I heard, even more puzzled, mustard, wasabi, horseradish, in the end, what is the relationship, are not all the same?

Later, the Japanese cuisine to eat more, only slowly know, mustard, wasabi, horseradish, horseradish, refers to three different seasonings.

In fact, wasabi is a generic, common name, like red wine is also a common name, representing all the wines.

Mustard, also known as wasabi, can be categorized into yellow mustard and green mustard, where green mustard is further divided into wasabi and horseradish.

Strictly speaking, mustard is yellow mustard, just like red wine, which is strictly red.

Yellow Mustard Mustard, is a frequently used condiment in domestic and European and American culinary customs. It is a condiment made from the mature seeds of the mustard Brassica juncea, ground.

Yellow mustard will have a clear mustard irritation flavor, however, people will also add spices, wine, sugar, vinegar and other substances in yellow mustard, processed into a variety of seasonings, the pungency will be much weaker.

Northwest China's cold dishes mixed with vermicelli, to be poured with yellow mustard spicy sauce is delicious. In the old days, in teahouses, yellow mustard was put, along with chili sauce is the standard seasoning.

Europeans eat steak, the sauce will add yellow mustard. Even German sausages are coated with yellow mustard to make them flavorful enough, and Ikea sells hot dogs that don't have a long line of paste-like yellow mustard on them.

What we usually think of as mustard is wasabi and horseradish, which is green mustard.

Wasabi and horseradish, again, are two very different plants.

Wasabi is the Japanese word for Wasabi, which is the grated root of the wasabi plant, native to Japan.

In the Japanese mind, wasabi is an indispensable mountain food.

With the brewing of the French Burgundy Pinot Noir grapes, wasabi is also a "delicate" plant, growing in the mountains, like clean, can only grow in non-polluting water, the temperature difference between day and night to be large, like low temperature, can not be direct sunlight.

At the same time, the growth cycle is very long, you need to plant four years before harvest.

Horseradish Horseradish, also known as horse radish, Western wasabi, also ground out of the rhizome, native to West Asia. The root is fleshy and thick and looks more like a yam.

Compared to the rich second-generation style of wasabi, horseradish is like eating a hundred meals grown up, can grow everywhere, easy to plant, drought-resistant and cold-resistant, and the growth cycle is also short.

After the horseradish root is peeled, it appears white, and the reason why it appears green in front of you is because when it is processed, it adds a colorful substance.

The vast majority of Japanese restaurants in the country use horseradish to make wasabi.

Because horseradish is good, cheap, only one-tenth the price of mustard.

Domestic supermarkets sell, the table restaurant provides toothpaste mustard, usually horseradish, even if a lot of Japanese imported mustard, carefully read the Chinese labeling affixed to the top, you will find that the main ingredient is horseradish.

Because wasabi, it's just too expensive.

Horseradish and wasabi both have a strong, pungent, spicy flavor, and are therefore used as an alternative condiment to wasabi. However, wasabi has a more subtle flavor than horseradish, and an extra layer of warm sweetness.

As my friend said earlier, "Only fancy Japanese restaurants, serve wasabi."

Usually, a fine Japanese restaurant will grind the wasabi on demand, fresh green wasabi root, layer by layer on a grinding board to a puree.

This is to ensure the fresh taste of the wasabi, which usually loses its flavor after 15 minutes, so sometimes the wasabi is also ground on site in front of the customer.

When eating Japanese food, wasabi like wasabi and horseradish, there are also rules about how to eat it.

First of all, wasabi can not be put in soy sauce, which is the opposite of our domestic customary practice.

The Japanese always pay attention to aesthetics, mustard in soy sauce, more than a few dips, it is dirty a piece, eating is not good.

On the other hand, wasabi in this spicy flavor components, volatility is relatively strong, put in soy sauce, a long time the flavor is gone.

When you eat sushi, put wasabi or horseradish from the plate, put a little bit on the sushi, and then, after the sushi dipped in soy sauce, put it in your mouth.

To eat sashimi (sashimi), put a little wasabi on the sashimi, dip the other end in soy sauce, and then put the wasabi in your mouth with the ends wrapped around the wasabi.

This is part of Japanese etiquette, and the wasabi is not diluted in the soy sauce, making it more spicy.

(For more on how to eat sashimi, see "Sashimi is so delicious, don't let the "wrong way to eat" ruin it!

Sometimes at the table, friends will ask, why eat Japanese food, sushi, sashimi will use wasabi, but not the other.

Friends also like food, after all, Japanese food, sashimi these eating is the fresh taste of seafood, then, wasabi, horseradish, these strong spicy flavor, is not to cover up the fresh taste of raw fish.

In fact, we eat raw fish, put some mustard, more or less can play the role of sterilization!

Or thanks to the unique flavor of wasabi and horseradish, it is from the isothiocyanate (ITC) substances, which can effectively inhibit the growth of microorganisms, inhibit the fishy taste.

Of course, this substance is more abundant in wasabi than in horseradish.

Finally, a few more words about the difference between wasabi and chili peppers in terms of pungency.

The spicy flavor of wasabi and horseradish stimulates the sinus part of the body, while cayenne pepper mainly stimulates one's tongue.

The pungency of wasabi is choking when smelled at room temperature, while the pungency of cayenne pepper waits until it's hotter than 60 degrees to make a person's nose run and sneeze.

Too much mustard is worse than chili, that irritation that hits the brain.

Here, Zheng Xiaota I say a better way.

Inhale through the nostrils, and then spit out of the mouth, do not let the air through the nasal passages, and do not let the spicy flavor of the mouth into the lungs, which will reduce the degree of difficulty.

The next time you encounter such a situation, you will not be afraid.