The Free Range Gourmet Free range thoughts on the finest ingredients, cuisine, and fine dining in Hawaii.
Free Range Gourmet
Keep in touch with Hawaii's great food blogs over in the right-hand column. Podcasts too!    
Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Proper grater essential to enjoyment of real wasabi

Having a source of real wasabi at the KCC Saturday Farmers Market (see previous post) is a pleasure, but it also presents a new challenge. Wasabi cannot be grated with a standard grater. Even the finest Microplane won't do the job.

What is really needed, and there is no perfect substitute, is a "same-gawa" (sharkskin) grater. The most common type has the shape of a small wooden paddle faced with genuine shark skin.

Since real wasabi is a rarity in the States, the sharkskin grater is also hard to find. Google will reveal several sources, of course. We don't have our genuine sharkskin grater yet, so we're making do with a stainless-steel model purchased at Shirokiya. This article describes the proper grating technique--a circular, kneading motion on the flat sharkskin surface. The article has information on wasabi and its history which you may enjoy also.

Don't underestimate the importance of proper technique. The wasabi is a bit of an investment, so you might as well enjoy it thoroughly. Prepared using a standard grater, it doesn't yield even a fraction of its full pungency or flavor.

So if you've bought your wasabi root, make a trip to Shirokiya to pick up the little grater pictured. Try the circular motion described in the article. If you like the results, consider acquiring your own sharkskin paddle.

Once you taste real wasabi properly prepared, there's no going back to the imitation green-dyed horseradish or mustard.

Do you want to receive an email whenever this page changes?



Powered by FeedBlitz



RSS News Feed


Receive Free Range Gourmet news via our news feed

How do you read news feeds? Click here for some information.


What's Cooking at Hawaii's Food Blogs

What's cooking at `ono kine grindz:

What's cooking at mā`ona:

What's cooking at Sonia Tastes Hawaii:

What's cooking at nattokun:

What's cooking at Big Island Grinds:

What's cooking at The Cuis-Zine:

What's cooking at The Tasty Island:



Market News

Official web pages and Tip Sheets for Saturday morning KCC Farmers' Market, Sunday morning Mililani Farmer's Market, and Thursday Night Kailua Market


Resources

Slow Food

You've read about the world-wide slow food movement. Hawaii has an active Slow Food group. Learn about or join Slow Food USA at the Slow Food USA website.

Where we're Eating

Tsukuneya
Town
Nico's at Pier 38
Da Spot
Olive Tree Cafe
It's A Beautiful Day Kafe
Taishoken
Sogongdong Restaurant


More Links

eGullet Hawaii discussion group
EatAsia
Simple Cooking
Reg Barber Coffee Tampers



Archive

12/01/2003 - 01/01/2004
01/01/2004 - 02/01/2004
03/01/2004 - 04/01/2004
04/01/2004 - 05/01/2004
05/01/2004 - 06/01/2004
07/01/2004 - 08/01/2004
08/01/2004 - 09/01/2004
10/01/2004 - 11/01/2004
01/01/2005 - 02/01/2005
02/01/2005 - 03/01/2005
03/01/2005 - 04/01/2005
04/01/2005 - 05/01/2005
05/01/2005 - 06/01/2005
06/01/2005 - 07/01/2005
07/01/2005 - 08/01/2005
08/01/2005 - 09/01/2005
09/01/2005 - 10/01/2005
10/01/2005 - 11/01/2005
11/01/2005 - 12/01/2005
12/01/2005 - 01/01/2006
01/01/2006 - 02/01/2006
02/01/2006 - 03/01/2006
03/01/2006 - 04/01/2006
04/01/2006 - 05/01/2006
06/01/2006 - 07/01/2006
09/01/2006 - 10/01/2006
10/01/2006 - 11/01/2006
11/01/2006 - 12/01/2006
12/01/2006 - 01/01/2007
01/01/2007 - 02/01/2007
02/01/2007 - 03/01/2007
03/01/2007 - 04/01/2007
04/01/2007 - 05/01/2007
05/01/2007 - 06/01/2007
06/01/2007 - 07/01/2007
08/01/2007 - 09/01/2007
09/01/2007 - 10/01/2007
10/01/2007 - 11/01/2007
11/01/2007 - 12/01/2007
12/01/2007 - 01/01/2008
01/01/2008 - 02/01/2008
02/01/2008 - 03/01/2008
03/01/2008 - 04/01/2008
06/01/2008 - 07/01/2008
07/01/2008 - 08/01/2008
08/01/2008 - 09/01/2008
10/01/2008 - 11/01/2008
11/01/2008 - 12/01/2008
12/01/2008 - 01/01/2009
02/01/2009 - 03/01/2009


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
NonCommercial-ShareAlike


Image: will blog for food

Support Bloggers' Rights!
Support Bloggers' Rights!


Image: powered by Blogger



[Valid RSS]


Amazon.com link

 
 

To contact the webmaster:

site stats