When eating Japanese food, it is customary to dip it in mustard.

But when eating Chinese food in China, I don’t know when it started. When there is sashimi on the table, it has been popular to put some mustard in the soy sauce.

It is in the shape of green toothpaste and is squeezed into soy sauce. It tastes really "encouraging", and it breaks through the nasal cavity and reaches the brain. The spicy taste is quite stimulating.

Once upon a time, a friend invited me to a high-end Japanese restaurant.

After serving sushi and sashimi, I asked the waiter to bring some wasabi as usual. The waiter said,

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

At that time, I was a little confused, isn’t this wasabi and wasabi the same thing? Is there any difference?

Halfway through the Japanese food, my friend pointed to the wasabi on the plate and said,

"This restaurant is famous in Hangzhou. This wasabi tastes good, unlike other restaurants." Japanese restaurants use horseradish.”

After hearing this, I was even more confused. What is the relationship between wasabi, wasabi, and horseradish? Aren’t they all the same?

Later, after eating more Japanese food, I gradually learned that wasabi, wasabi, and horseradish refer to three different seasonings.

In fact, mustard is a collective name and a common name, just like red wine is also a common name, representing all wines.

Mustard, also called mustard, can be divided into yellow mustard and green mustard, among which green mustard is divided into horseradish and horseradish.

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

Yellow mustard is a commonly used condiment in domestic and European and American dietary customs. It is a condiment made from the ground mature seeds of the mustard plant Brassica juncea.

Yellow mustard has an obvious pungent taste. However, people also add spices, wine, sugar, vinegar and other substances to yellow mustard and process it into various seasonings. This spicy feeling will Much weaker.

The cold dishes in northwest China are mixed with vermicelli and must be topped with yellow mustard sauce to make them taste better. In old teahouses, yellow mustard was always included, and together with chili sauce, it was a standard condiment.

When Europeans eat steak, yellow mustard is added to the sauce. Even German sausages need to be smeared with yellow mustard to make them taste good. The hot dogs sold by IKEA don't have a long paste-like yellow mustard on them.

The mustard we usually think of is horseradish and horseradish, which are green mustards.

Wasabi and horseradish are two completely different plants.

Wasabi is Wasabi in Japanese. It is made from the ground roots of wasabi and is native to Japan.

In the minds of Japanese people, wasabi is an indispensable mountain delicacy.

Like the Pinot Noir grape used to make France's famous Burgundy wine, wasabi is also a "fastidious" plant. It grows on high mountains and likes to be clean. It can only grow in pollution-free water with no temperature difference between day and night. Be large, like low temperatures, and not be exposed to direct sunlight.

At the same time, the growth cycle is very long, and it takes four years of planting to produce a harvest.

Horseradish, also known as horseradish and horseradish, is also ground from the rhizome and is native to West Asia. The root is fleshy and thick, looking more like a yam.

Compared with the rich second-generation style wasabi, horseradish seems to have grown up eating a lot of food. It can grow anywhere, is easy to plant, is drought-resistant and cold-resistant, and has a short growth cycle.

After peeling the roots of horseradish, they appear white. The reason why they appear green to everyone is because color substances are added during processing.

Most Japanese restaurants in the country use wasabi made from horseradish.

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

The toothpaste-like mustard sold in domestic supermarkets and provided by restaurants on the table is usually made of horseradish. Even if it is a lot of Japanese imported mustard, you will find it if you read the Chinese labels on it carefully. , the main ingredient is horseradish.

Because wasabi is too expensive.

Both horseradish and wasabi have a strong pungent taste, so they are used as substitute condiments for wasabi. However, the taste of wasabi is more delicate than horseradish, and it also has an extra layer of warm sweetness.

As my friend said before, "Only high-end Japanese food stores will provide wasabi."

Usually, high-end Japanese restaurants will freshly grind wasabi and bright green wasabi roots according to customer needs, and grind them layer by layer on a grinding board into a puree.

This is to ensure the fresh taste of wasabi. Usually, wasabi will gradually lose its flavor after 15 minutes. Therefore, wasabi is sometimes ground in front of customers.

When eating Japanese food, there are also particular ways to eat wasabi, horseradish and other mustards.

First of all, mustard cannot be placed in soy sauce, which is completely contrary to our domestic customary practice.

The Japanese always pay attention to aesthetics. Putting mustard in soy sauce and dipping it a few times will make it dirty and unpleasant to eat.

On the other hand, the pungent ingredient in wasabi is relatively volatile, and when placed in soy sauce, the flavor will disappear over time.

When eating sushi, pick a little wasabi or horseradish from the plate and put it on the sushi. Then, dip the sushi in some soy sauce and put it in your mouth.

The same goes for eating sashimi (sashimi). Put a little wasabi on the sashimi, dip the other end in soy sauce, and then wrap both ends with mustard and put it in your mouth.

This is also part of Japanese etiquette. Moreover, the mustard is not diluted in soy sauce, which makes it more spicy when eaten.

(For how to eat sashimi, you can also read "Sashimi is so delicious, don’t be ruined by the "wrong way of eating it"!")

Sometimes at the dinner table, friends will Asked, why wasabi is used in Japanese food, sushi and sashimi, but not others.

My friends also like food. After all, in Japanese food, sashimi is about the freshness of seafood. So, the strong spicy flavor of wasabi and horseradish will not cover up the freshness of fish. Well.

In fact, when we eat sashimi, adding some mustard can have a sterilizing effect to some extent!

The unique taste of wasabi and horseradish is attributed to it. It is derived from isothiocyanate (ITC) substances, which can effectively inhibit the growth of microorganisms and suppress the fishy smell.

Of course, the content of this substance in wasabi is higher than that in horseradish.

Finally, let’s talk about the difference in spiciness between mustard and chili.

The spiciness of wasabi and horseradish stimulates the sinuses, while chili pepper mainly stimulates the tongue.

The spiciness of mustard will make you choke when you smell it at room temperature, while the spiciness of chili will only make people runny nose and sneeze when the temperature is above 60 degrees.

Eating too much mustard is more uncomfortable than chili pepper. The stimulating sensation will hit the brain.

Here, Zheng Xiaota, let me tell you a better way.

Inhale through your nostrils and exhale through your mouth. Do not let the air pass through the nasal passages and do not let the spicy taste in your mouth enter the lungs. This will reduce the level of discomfort.

Next time you encounter such a situation, you won’t be afraid.