Shouldn't Eurasia and Eastasia have forums too? Is Big Brother behind this?

Where is Fred? He's Samoan right? He drives a Mercedes. Shouldn't Fred be posting here?

I think maybe Californians should be posting here too. We were part of Oceania in 1984 for sure and it may be the closest match today. Hawaii for sure. Probably Alaska. California, I think.

So whoover, have you ever driven (preferably a Mercedes-Benz automobile) in Japan? I did the left side of the road thing in England once and wasn't too keen on it. Manual shift. It was just freaky for me.

Oh, and while I've got you here, once you grate the wasabi root, then what?

I've been looking for the fresh root here with no luck. My local Asiatown markets cater to Chinese/Korean cuisine. Haven't given up though.

I'm afraid I haven't driven a "Bensu," as they're universally called in Japan, over there but I have driven in Japan. In the mid '80s I rented a car on Shikoku to drive to Taga Jinja, the ***** Shrine. My wife was with me, who was of of no use because she reads no more Japanese than I do (none). We did have a Japanese native with us, who unfortunately had never been to Shikoku either and was inconveniently blind.

At junctions I would frantically ask him for directions, describing the signs. "Left is to corkscrew/winepress and right is backwards R with fins/telephone pole." He would scream at me and I would draw the kanji on his palm with my finger. "That's not a winepress, baka! That's "west" you idiot! Go that way!."

This was before the bridge to Shikoku was built and the rural parts of the island never saw foreigners. Whenever we would stop, the locals would come out of their homes and set up stands selling food for other gawkers. All before the light changed green again.

The right-hand drive was the least of my problems.

When we got to the shrine, my wife was of more use.

The grated wasabi is eaten with sushi and sashimi. I cook Japanese food at least a couple of times a week. Tonight I made iwashi nanban-zuke (fresh sardines "southern barbarian style" -- fried and then marinated in vinegar and chilis) and salmon preserved in sake lees. No wasabi tonight.

Sounds like a scene from a sitcom (though not so funny to you at the time, I suspect). The ***** Shrine. I saw a documentary about it once. I want to take my wife there. "See Honey, I told you you should worship it."

So you just grate it and eat it? Is the consistency the same as sushi bar wasabi? I just figured most restaurants served the reconstituted stuff.

Grated wasabi has a much nicer texture and flavor than the reconsitituted powder (which has no real wasabi in it -- it's 100% horseradish). Most restaurants use the powder. A few use the fake stuff as "wasabi helper" to extend the real stuff. Of course, top places use 100% real wasabi.

I think it's a scandal that none of the "wasabi" you buy in stores, or get served in restaurants, has any wasabi in it. If the growers of the venerable Wasabia japonica root had the pull of Champagne vintners, the cans would say "dyed dessicated horseradish."

Real sawa-wasabi is very expensive because it will only grow in untreated, flowing water in a mountain stream. It has a unique flavor, sweet and fragrant like vanilla, along with the pungency. The texture is smoother than fake wasabi because the root is not as fibrous as horseradish.

http://www.wasabia.com/wasabi-story.php

I just found a couple of Japanese markets nearby. They have the wasabi and sharkskin. Probably won't go today since it's snowing in Atlanta (southerners cannot be trusted driving in the ice & snow...). Thanks for the information.

Cool. Grate with a circular motion. Don't peel the root as the flavor is most concentrated in the outer layers. Just pare away any dark areas. Wrap the root in damp paper towel and store in a baggie in the vegetable crisper. It will last two weeks.

And oh, I should add that the parcel net some Mercedes have in the trunk is an excellent way to transport delicate wasabi roots home from the market.

Thanks you for the post.