So, one time when I was 12 I was grounded 'cause I convinced my friend's little sister
to eat a whole spoon of this.
She believed it was smashed avocado. We knew, or at least we thought it was wasabi.
But many, many years later I have come to learnt that we could both be wrong.
Yeah, it turns out that the spicy green paste you get in sushi restaurants isn't actually wasabi at all.
It's horseradish and green food dye.
Real wasabi, Japanese wasabi, is actually kind of rare and expensive even in Japan.
So horseradish and wasabi are part of the same produce fam
Brasaca-brasacaha-brazzer...Jack, just put the word on the screen.
Think of them more as cousins than siblings.
With one cousin way more fussy to grow than the other.
Given I have neglected every plant child that I have ever taken on I am turning to Esme Atkinson
for advice. She's from Shima Wasabi Australia's largest commercial wasabi crop
So Esme, why is wasabi so hard to grow outside of Japan?
Wasabi is very prone to disease
It needs clean air, it needs pure water and it needs a cool climate.
And it can take 18 months to grow. Did we mention it was fussy?
Now Esme, I am somewhat of a committed plant mother myself. If I want to grow wasabi at home what can I do?
Is there a list? Some tips?
Can't really share any secrets other to say you would struggle to grow it yourself.
Ahhh, so you've got the secret locked away there.
So really, what are we missing out on then? They look the same, surely they must taste the same?
The flavour is certainly different. Wasabi is a much sweeter flavour
It's a much more delicate flavour. You still get the heat but it dissipates much quicker.
Armed with the knowledge that up until this point my life had basically been a lie
My entire sushi experience quite possibly a load of fake news.
I had to double check Esme's claims and there was really only one way to do it.
[coughs] F**k, s**t. No, no, f**k this. I'm not f**king doing this.