IZU WASABI

The most famous and highest-quality wasabi comes from Shizuoka Prefecture (静岡県) – Especially Izu Peninsula (伊豆半島, known for pure mountain spring water and long-established wasabi farms, Home to Amagi Mountains — ideal natural wasabi-growing environment, recognized by UNESCO as part of a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System

Fresh Izu wasabi (伊豆本わさび) is considered the best in Japan, and there is a traditional etiquette for enjoying it. Here’s the most authentic, Japanese-style way to grate, serve, and eat it so that you experience its clean sweetness and delicate heat.

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Proper grater (おろし金 / 鮫皮)

Best etiquette:

• Use a sharkskin grater (鮫皮おろし – samegawa oroshi). Many restaurants in Izu will serve wasabi with one.
• If at home, a fine metal or ceramic grater is acceptable but less ideal.

How to grate politely:

• Hold the rhizome at a slight angle.
• Grate using small, slow, circular motions, not back-and-forth.
• Grate only what you will eat immediately; fresh-grated wasabi loses aroma within minutes.

After grating, gently gather it into a small peak using the back of the grater or chopsticks.

Etiquette note:

• Don’t smear it around the plate.
• A compact mound preserves its aroma and is considered more elegant.

Fresh wasabi’s key compounds (allyl isothiocyanates) develop after grating.
Japanese chefs let it “bloom” for half a minute.

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Eat it pure

In Japan, people often taste a tiny nibble of pure wasabi first to appreciate the terroir of Izu.

You can say:
「まず、素材の味をいただきます。」
(“I’ll enjoy the ingredient’s natural flavor first.”)

• For sashimi/soba: place wasabi on the food, not in the soy sauce.
• For sushi: add only if needed, and never mix with soy sauce.
• Try it in wasabi-don, the local specialty of Izu.

Japanese Etiquette Note:

• Treat the wasabi rhizome with care; don’t leave it wet or sitting in soy sauce.
• Never discard the top part you didn’t grate; put it back neatly.
• Compliment the aroma:
  「香りがとても良いですね。」
  (“The fragrance is wonderful.”)

This is polite and respectful to the producer.