I ordered the fresh english wasabi rhizome bundle with the appropriate grater and bamboo brush. Following instructions carefully and ensuring I didn't leave the wasabi on the steel grater for too long - even grating extra to ensure the contact with the grater was minimized and there was a bit of a layer of wasabi to build on - it was just pretty tasteless. And not just in comparison to horseradish paste wasabi which obviously hits much harder, but in a devoid of flavour sort of way. You can taste it if you have a pretty decent blob (like a pea or sweetcorn sized) and it has a decent taste if you eat it alone but you'd probably need something more like the size of the piece of fish on top of your sushi to have the flavour come through on your sushi. Not sure if it was a dud rhizome or whether English wasabi is just much inferior to Japanese wasabi but it eliminates any cost saving of choosing English over Japanese as you will have to use an absolute ton of it which just isn't the case compared to when you have sushi chefs make your nigiri in front of you with fresh wasabi (that I guess must be Japanese).
Hi Bernard
Thank you for sharing your feedback and so sorry to hear that the fresh English wasabi rhizome was so disappointing especially when you’ve followed the instructions carefully.
We need to stress that this is very unusual and sounds like there may have been an issue with this particular rhizome. We sell a lot of UK wasabi to Japanese chefs, and their feedback typically reflects a high level of satisfaction with the flavour and quality. It seems that this specific rhizome did not reach our usual high quality standards.
We appreciate your detailed description and have taken your comments onboard. We would be happy to refund you for the wasabi rhizome and arrange a replacement. Please get in touch with us at hello@thewasabicompany.co.uk so we can make the necessary arrangements.
S
Sarah D. (Guildford, England)
Loved it.
We love fresh wasabi! We had it at a restaurant once and knowing we can now get it is amazing! Tastes divine and easy to prepare. Won’t be our last time ordering
Thanks Sarah, very happy you found us and enjoying the fresh wasabi :)
R
Robert A. (Cheltenham, England)
Not as hot as I thought!
We received a small wasabi root as a part of one of the starter packs but did not have an opportunity to use it until several days later. The grating instructions were good and we made a good looking paste pretty easily. I think we need to get used to making Wasabi as when really freshly grated had almost no heat and I only managed to get a sample that was pretty hot once in my trials. Perhaps I did not leave it for long enough after grating? We tended to grate as we were using, which may have been a mistake. Further trials required.
Hi Robert, thanks for reviewing - fresh wasabi can vary a lot, but for optimum results it's best to wait for at least 5 minutes after grating before eating. This allows the two compounds to come together and react, causing the heat and flavour to be released :)
