Wasabi and Athletes Foot
(Translated excerpt from Yomu Kusuri [Reading Medicine] by Jyunichiro Uemae)
When you try out a bento (a boxed lunch for delivery that is very common among Japanese), you probably find pills in a small pouch within the bento box. These pills, actually made out of wasabi extract, are used to keep bacteria from developing and preserve the freshness of the meal. A component of spiciness that fires your nose is the key for preventing decay. The Sekisui Mold R&D Lab succeeded in extracting this component and in stabilizing it. Mustard and garlic work the same way, but give out a strong smell. On the other hand, a wasabi extract pill works well in tiny amounts and leaves no smell or spicy taste (as long as you do not pop it into your mouth). The lab patented this wasabi extract and started to study to mix the component into polyethylene film, thinking of using it to wrap food to keep it fresh. This novel idea inspired a few absurd inquiries - one asked if it can be used treating athlete foot, or preventing STD. |
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Wasabi Never Dies
(Excerpt From OregonLive - October 10, 1999)
This article tells the story of a successful wasabi business entrepreneur in Florence, Oregon. His methods have made him the largest commercial wasabi producer outside the Far East. His customers are high-end restaurants such as Chicago's Charlie Trotter's and celebrity chefs such as Wolfgang Puck. Since his wasabi growing technology is top secret, and fresh wasabi is worth over $100 a pound in Japan and $45 a pound in North America, some people are eager to steal the secret. One day, he saw a spy, sent by a foreign government's agricultural industry, who kept on taking photographs from outside the gate of his wasabi farm...
Read the full story at OregonLive. |
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Sushi Encyclopedia: Watch the Jargon
(Translated excerpt from Yomu Kusuri [Reading Medicine] by Jyunichiro Uemae)
"I am disgusted with jargon and puns used at Sushi restaurants," says Masuo Yoshino, the 3rd generation owner of Yoshino Sushi, a restaurant at Tokyo. A popular word for tea, is agari and for soy source is murasaki. According to Mr. Yoshino, both terms stem from words used in red light districts in the past. Agari comes from entering [agaru] into a prostitute's house because they served tea when customers came in. People worked there called soy source murasaki [purple] since it looked purplish at that time. A jargon for squid legs is geso, an abbreviation of gesoku, which means shoes that you have just taken off. How appetizing this sounds! Finally, Sushi rice is called shari since rice grains reminded some people of shari, a word for "Buddha's bone." Oh, my....
For table of jargon vs proper Japanese, go to the Jargon page.
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| Fake Wasabi |
Most of the time, the wasabi you taste with Sushi is not real wasabi. Usually wasabi available at Japanese restaurants or grocery stores is made from horseradish and green food coloring. Even the covers of tubes of wasabi which say "Fresh" have little or no real wasabi in it. Real wasabi is available only in limited places in America.
You can learn about real wasabi at the Pacific Farms website or the Wasabi Brother's Mangajin Archive. |
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| Wasabi Toothpaste |
| According to an article in Scientific American (http://www.sciam.com) on December 15, 2000, wasabi research presented by Hideki Masuda at the International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies, revealed the possibility of wasabi preventing tooth decay. There may be a day we will see wasabi tooth paste. The full story is available at the Scientific American site. |
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How the US Sushi Boom Started
(Source: Sushi around the World by Toyoo Tamamura) |
| A once gardener turned Sushi chef opened a Sushi restaurant called Oh-show close to the 20 Century Fox Studio in 1976. Yul Brynner, an actor famous for the movie "The King and I" loved the place and brought his friends quite often. This is how Sushi was introduced to Hollywood. The early stage of Sushi's rise was supported by Hollywood industry. The review of the restaurant Nobu also tells a story of how Hollywood people support a current Japanese restaurant. |
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| Old Way of Telling a Good Sushi Bar |
| There was a saying, "Look at the Noren [restaurant's curtain] to tell which Sushi bar is the best." This is because when Edomae-zushi started in Tokyo, customers wiped their hands with the Noren (typically, napkins were not given out) when they left the restaurant. Noren became an indicator of the restaurant's business. Therefore, the dirtier the Noren is, the better the Sushi tastes. Well, this used to be the case. |
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