Simmered in Miso Ep. 3: Wasabi-don
I’ve had wasabi on my brain lately, and for a good reason too… wasabi-don. Wasabi is probably one of the first things that comes to a person’s mind when they think about Japanese food, especially sushi. The bright green paste is one you either love or have a tendency to avoid since it burned up your throat that one time you put a whole spoonful in your mouth in college. Definitely not speaking from experience here. While the green globs we downed at sushi places in our home countries were probably dyed horseradish, many of us find ourselves needing that unique spicy burn you get from “wasabi” from time to time; or if you’re my husband, on every dish in Mt. Fuji-sized heaps. I’m convinced wasabi is his alternative to taking allergy medication since it clears your nose out quickly. However, sushi can be pricey and while you can find pre-made sushi bentos at the supermarket, it’s not always cost effective on our ALT budgets to eat sushi all the time. And anyway, if you’re really a wasabi lover then the amounts you get in the sad little package next to your sushi are barely enough to make your eyes water. But to be honest, other than sushi and the occasional meat dish, I didn’t know what else to do with wasabi until Kodoku no Gurume came to my rescue again.
I’ve mentioned this show before in our intro piece as one of the inspirations for my Japanese food journey, and Goro-san did not disappoint. In the episode I watched, Goro was in the middle of nowhere, hungry as hell and looking for a place to eat when he stumbled on a restaurant advertising wasabi-don. When I tell you, I was ready to try wasabi again despite past… disagreements… that is how good that donburi looked, granted they served nama (raw/fresh) wasabi and that is in no way in my budget. I got to thinking how to make this and yet not blow out my budget, and after a quick trip down the internet rabbit hole I discovered that the next best thing to nama wasabi is honwasabi (本わさび). It doesn’t always contain 100% real wasabi but is much closer to the taste of nama wasabi than the basic tubes at the store. Most of those are again horseradish which burns your tongue and nose without much of the wasabi flavor so we say opt for this one.
Now that brings us back to what the heck even is wasabi-don? We have to start by explaining the origins of donburi as a dish itself. Donburi can be traced all the way back to the Muromachi period and was popular in Edo among local artists and artisans for how delicious yet cheap the dish was. Donburi simply refers to any dish served over rice so ten-don is tempura over rice, gyu-don is beef over rice etc. Now stay with me, I know what you’re thinking: you are not gonna just straight up put nothing but wasabi on rice and eat it, are you? The answer is actually yes, but not quite in the way you imagine it.
To make this you’re going to need rice, honwasabi (S&B), katsuobushi or bonito (the dancing fish flakes), soy sauce, and finely shredded nori. You can use microwave packs of rice but you’re going to want to spring for the koshihikari variety because you want the rice to fluff up well when mixed. Once your rice is done, add the nori, katsuobushi and wasabi and pour a little soy sauce over the top. I recommend using about a teaspoon of wasabi for one serving of rice — it’s the star of this dish, so you really want to feel it! For a lighter taste you can use kaisendon sauce as well. Then mix it all up and enjoy the burn! I usually serve it with next week’s dish kakuni or with chicken thighs slow cooked with soy sauce and other goodies topped with green onion although you could go for the double gold in the wasabi-lympics with wasabi soy sauce marinated chicken thighs. If you are vegan or vegetarian, fried tofu in a sweet sauce would make a good balance to this spicy rice bowl and you can switch out the katsuobushi for finely sliced dried shiitake mushrooms.
If you try this dish, make sure to take a picture and tag @wideislandview on Instagram so that we can share in this foodie journey together! See you next week for Episode 4: Kakuni pork!
