Wasabi and its cultivation

- Sendai Japan is located in Miyagi prefecture
- largest city in the Tohoku (northeast) region and the pace is not as hectic as Tokyo's
- a back garden that even the Japanese adore

- February is the best season to have oysters and strawberries in Sendai
- Wasabi and shitake mushrooms also flourish there
- few people have seen what wasabi looks like
- Mt. Yakurai is famous for wasabi farming
- wasabi is a unique plant initially grew wild by the streams
- more than 350 years ago, the Japanese began cultivating it

- the tents at the farm are filled with wasabi
- the spring water of Mt. Yakurai filled the floor up to the ankles is running water, not stagnant water
- water running at a temperature of 9-13 deg C thus it won't turn into ice and is crystal clear
- water helps to keep the place warm in winter and cool in summer
- wasabi is extremely fragile and the water sprinklers are on 24 hours daily

- they must be covered in winter
- the shield protects the wasabi from the cold and hot sun
- after summer, the cover will be replaced by a net which covers the entire place
- this stops the temperature from rising too much

- wasabi consumes an incredible amount of water
- it must be sprinkled with 180 cc of water per minute
- that's equivalent to guzzling down a bottle of milk every minute

- the farmer is planting wasabi saplings inserting very carefully
- farm has about 44,000 wasabi plants
- one ha of land harvests approximately 20 tonnes of wasabi every year
- the women workers harvest the crops according to daily orders

- the soil is fairly loose and have to careful when harvesting lest damaging the stems and roots
- shake it gently and take it out and shake out all the sand
- one bunch is about 10 pieces of wasabi in there
- the wasabi is then transported to rinse

- artificially cultivated wasabi can grow in the greenhouses in winter
- the climate issue solved, wasabi can be cultivated and harvested all year round
- Japanese are stringent and sentimental in their attitude towards agricultural products

- harvested wasabi won't be delivered straight to the market
- wasabi need to be processed by rinsing it in freezing cold water
- the outside temperature is about 3-4 deg C and the water is about 9-10 deg C
- the water is kept at this temperature all year round
- it's spring water pumped from underground maintained at the right temperature

- wasabi flowers can be used to garnish sashimi
- they taste awfully bitter and gets more bitter the more you chew it
- the bitterness produces a spicy aftertaste, follow by the taste of wasabi

- rinsing wasabi requires tenacity as your hands are soaked in water perpetually
- wasabi is repeatedly rinsed and pruned after the rinse all by hand
- the leaves of wasabi plant can be eaten raw and taste delicious (edible and extremely tasty)
- they can be eaten to promote fair skin, aid digestion and enhance blood circulation
- every part of wasabi is edible, from the leaves to the flowers, stems and roots
- a small wasabi costs about 300 yen (S$5 or S$6)
- for a little wasabi which takes a year and three months to cultivate
- bigger wasabi (weighs 150g) takes about 2 years to grow costs about 1500 yen (S$15 or S$18)
- supermarkets sell it at 3000 yen (S$50 or S$60) compared to a carrot of similar size which costs less than S$1

- the last procedure is to scrub the wasabi
- the only scrubbing machine in Japan, it's like car wash
- the flowers and leaves make lovely garnish
- wasabi can be made into fermented wasabi, wasabi ice-cream etc

- fresh wasabi is ground using shark skin grater that's commonly found in Japanese restaurants
- grinding it in circular motion ensures a smooth and spicy flavour
- wasabi we get in Singapore can be really spicy that permeates your brain and nose
- freshly ground wasabi is pungent and spicy, and contains some sweetness

- majority of the content that is available in Singapore is horseradish from the West
- a tube of fresh wasabi requires pure spring water, tender loving care and the right climate conditions to grow