Wasabi’s the hot new idea for Irish farmers!
THE world’s most expensive vegetable – the Japanese wasabi – has been successfully grown in Ireland for the first time.
The sushi accompaniment known as ‘green gold’ is worth a cool €1.5million an acre. It is traditionally grown in the mountain streams of its native habitat in the Japanese Shizuoka prefecture.
But RTÉ farming series Ear To The Ground reveals how the plant, which is notoriously difficult to cultivate, has been carefully nurtured in a garden just outside Tandragee in Co. Armagh.
Chemist Dr Seán Kitson and his son Zak have made a little bit of history, after seeing one of the world’s most expensive crops finish its two-year growth cycle.
The first-time farmers are delighted to see their years of hard work paying off after successfully growing a shaded polytunnel full of wasabi, worth around €45,000.
‘It’s very difficult to grow’, said Dr Kitson, ‘You can have problems with root rot, the optimum temperature is 12C, but in summer when it gets hot it can get up to 40 to 50C in the [polytunnel], so that slows the growth down. The light will burn the plant, so we have to reduce it by 80%.’
Dr Kitson and his son decided to grow the plant because of its reputed anti-inflammatory properties, as Zak was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis as a child.
‘(Wasabi) have anti-bacterial properties and are also antiinflammatory,’ Dr Kitson explained. ‘MS is kind of an inflammatory, neuro-disease.’
Wasabi is best known as the green paste that accompanies sushi, but many such pastes are actually concoctions of horseradish, mustard, sugar and green colouring, as the plant is so tricky to grow. The valuable green has an intense kick when freshly grated.
In Ear To The Ground, the fresh wasabi root grown in Ireland is put to the taste test when it is brought to the Zen restaurant in Belfast, run by Eddie Fung.
The restaurateur said he had never previously been able to source the vegetable from Ireland. On tasting the plant, he called it ‘fantastic ‘.
He said: ‘It is very strong. It is definitely the real McCoy. The [customers] would love it. It is seven or ten times stronger.’
Ear To The Ground will air tomorrow on RTÉ One at 7pm.