It's not like I haven't had wasabi before. There is a marked difference between restaurant style wasabi, made fresh in house, and wasabi that comes in little packages with the sushi sold at the deli in your local oriental market. My tale of woe lie within...

I love Japanese restaurants. It's not like I'm enamored with Japanese culture, mind you, I just like the food. You can't eat Japanese food without encountering wasabi. It's a common condiment used for seafood dishes in Japan.

Wasabi, as is made in restaurants, is made from the rhizome plant. It's roots and stems are used for wasabi, while the leafy parts are used to add wasabi flavor without the bite. Because rhizome is in short supply, some restaurants cheap out and use a combination of horseradish, mustard, and food coloring. This mixture might be served in place of wasabi, or it might be mixed with pure rhizome wasabi to take out some of the expense.

Real wasabi has bite, but it's smooth and warm. The horseradish wasabi is the work of the devil. I discovered it today when I picked up some fast-food sushi rolls for a fast lunch in my car outside where I work. Yes, I admit - I forgot that I was using cheap wasabi. I heaped a Goliath man-sized chunk onto my sushi roll. This amount should have been sufficient to put hair on a fish's chest. And I bit in.

The last thing I remember before passing out was thinking that I ought to scream for help. I wouldn't have been able to, however. The sensation of cattle-prod having been shoved up my nose stunted my faculties of speech. But screaming seemed an appropriate thing to do. When I came to, I became acutely aware that my hand was twitching. Whoever makes this fake wasabi crap ought to seriously consider making some kind of Wasabi Spray. Instead of merely annoying the drug-crazed rapist with mace or pepper spray, a would-be victim could reduce them to a quivering fetal lump of blood and snot. Best of all, you have your own personal wasabi for use at Japanese restaurants.

The first time I had it my friends smothered my sushi with it. It's frightening hot and with the tingling I swore I was having a stroke.

Great story! Been through any other stormes lately?

Nope. All is calm lately in Wichita.

But I will be here when the next one hits!

For sure!

I hope you didn't crash your car

I know what you mean about the wasabi. My friend and I got into an argument over the ingredients of wasabi and I had to look it up to verify what I was trying to convince him of, that wasabi was made with horseradish. Well the root real wasabi is made from is a relative of the horseradish root, that is why there is a similarity. I was sure I was eating horseradish that day at the restaurant and I probably was. It does have a bite to it..lol

I'm staying away from that stuff under any circumstance. Thanks for the warning!

Yeah, and the wasabi packets just taste like crap! The stuff good stuff is like a totally different creature to the packets.

I real wasabi!!

Wasabi is used to kill any harmful things that comes from eating raw foods.that's the reason it's so hot

i rike godzirra lol

I thought that was what the raw Ginger root was for.

mmmmmmmmmm........sushi!!

Good story .

My Mom always has a similar reaction to wasabi .

I on the other hand love it and heap it on no matter how hot .... I love horseradish also .

Do you wish it were dead, all wasabi that is?

I eat real homemade korean food from a friends house alot....very hot.

But never laugh with wasabi in your mouth.......it is killer in your sinus's........I did that the first time I had it........I wished I was dead for about 30 minutes.....extreme pain

MMM! Korean Nasai Goreng! The spicier, the better! Of course there's a problem in that the meat is unidentifiable.

Woof, Whoof!

Ric doesn't eat sushi, he buys it bait his hook when he goes fishing. Except Tuna rolls, those he will eat, but no packet wasabe, would rather dip them in spicy ketchup.