Why Restaurants Serve Fake Wasabi

Everybody tries to get their friends and family to try wasabi and watch them in pain for a few seconds. However, this version of wasabi is actually (likely) fake. Real wasabi is a completely different tradition.

SOCIAL MEDIA:

Credits:
Producer - Matthew Li
Production Assistant - Mana Chuabang
Script Supervisor - Louis Govier

Special thanks:
David Hulme
Daio Wasabi Farm
Yusef Iqbal
Yeevonne Lim
Dylan Payne
Brandon Goddard
Kevin Thomas

Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
2:48 - Paying the bills
4:33 - Daio Wasabi Farm
8:40 - The history of wasabi
12:08 - What is fake wasabi?
14:40 - Visiting an independent wasabi farm
17:33 - Trying real wasabi
19:38 - The truth about wasabi
22:34 - Real wasabi in America
23:10 - Why I love wasabi

[offthemenuyt]

One correction in the video, as some have already pointed out:
I mentioned tritium in the wrong context, in which it affects the flavor of wasabi. An isotope of tritium is a marker for how long water in a mountain massif was isolated from the atmosphere. Tritium itself doesn't change the flavor of wasabi, which I should've been more clear in my wording.

As someone who made a whole video about tritium before, this was a pretty bad mistake on my part. I'll try to be more careful in the future.

[Suhi]

I like the way you do your videos. Food is not just food, sometimes it's a big part of history and culture. And it's very important to speak about it. It's my personal interest, so i respect your work so much:3

[jordan.ellis.hunter]

I was living a few years in a region of germany that was mad in love with anything radish and I learnd to love it myself. From purple garden radishes as a TV snack, daikon finley sliced and salted with rye bread and cheese as a beer snack to grated daikon salads with apple or boiled beef with horseradish cream sauce. Foods like eel and radish get such a bad rep, but its 100% about how ppl don't know how to work with it correctly.

[KathyXie]

In japanese Horseradish is called 西洋わさび or western wasabi so tecnically Horseradish wasabi is not fake wasabi just a different type of wasabii.

[worldsofpivotify]

Your storytelling is top notch. I'll keep saying it, I'm waiting for you to reach a millions subs

[Peter-fujl]

Dude the quality of your docs is amazing

[leo_maino]

your videos are so rich in content! it’s great to see a project like this!

[ncj]

Been binge watching your channel ever since I found it, insane production quality on all your videos, you honestly deserve way more views! Here's hoping more to come!

[jacobalstrup]

hey man just came across your channel and after watching a couple videos I was shocked by your subscriber count. The quality of your videos is excellent and the content is interesting and presented in an engaging fashion. Your channel is going to be big man, keep it up!

[amanoos]

Awesome documentary. I love how you were able to find experts willing to share more details on this subject and create this engaging video. As a big sushi and sashimi fan myself, I would love to be able to try them with real wasabi someday. Keep up the excellent job you're doing.

[feyza]

This is my first time seeing how wasabi is grown and harvested, its really fascinating! I was aware that the wasabi I get is mainly horseradish but I had not realized how deep this issue went. So glad I watched this!

[gururio]

I randomly ran into your videos and watched four so far, wonderfully made! I live in the SF Bay Area and always wonder why real wasabi is widely available in Japanese markets and higher-end sushi restaurants here. Thank you for the answer! You look like a college student (maybe you still are???) but your videos are topnotch like a pro. Please keep up the good work.

[BoogieD]

This is definitely your best video, I am amazed by your progress.
I have been to Japan 3 times and this is one of the things that I have not tried. Not tried... yet I hope!

[phszoyk]

Had to chuckle at the phrase "elevated from medicine to food"

[dropelaves]

Still waiting for your channel's "boom". Sweet baby jesus, is your content good!!

[gsbsblue]

Love you videos. Real wasabi really is such a treat for Japanese food lovers.

[thesefran]

like how fish & chip shops sell fake vinegar 🍟

[janxl.]

I always wondered what the point of wasabi was, since it was like green horse radish to me. Didnt think the answer was this

[FranciscoPreira]

Great content Matthew, thank you for sharing.

[klieu]

I've only had real wasabi once, at a very expensive sushi restaurant. The chefs were grating it fresh on those sharkskin graters. So much better than horseradish!