-=> Quoting Carol Shenkenberger to Nancy Backus on 12-10-08 23:11 <=-

 >  CS> Be thinking a jar the size of a calumet baking powder tin.  Thats the
 >  CS> most common one.  Will be a product of Japan almost for sure (avoid
 >  CS> others such as china lately, if you even see it from China).  Japan
 > That's what I found, a jar about the size of the Calumet... And very
 > clearly marked as "wasabi fumi furikake", with the rest in English.
 > Well, most of the rest... there were Asian characters on it too...  :)
 > Interestingly, after I got it home and looked more closely, it said that
 > it was a product of China.  Hmmm...  Should I return it to Wegmans?

 CS> Naw, but it does mean it doesnt have 'real wasabi'.  Thats ok, I use
 CS> fake types all the time here.  For the wasabi type, china should be
 CS> fine.  I would take it back if the ebi (shrimp) type.

That could be why there weren't any ebi type on the shelf... :)  The
ingredients listed horseradish, not wasabi... of course any other wasabi
ingredients might have been listed separately... :)  But the Asian
characters looked more Japanese than Chinese... more script-like.

 CS> If you can find dried shrimp (normally small things like coctail sized
 CS> or popcorn sized but dried), crush a few of those in there for the ebi
 CS> type with the wasabi kick.  Real common trick in japan to save money as
 CS> it's cheaper to buy dried shrimp and add them than get the stuff with
 CS> it added already. 

That's a thought... :)

 CS> Never worry about a product from Japan as far as food goes. 
 CS> Other than a few odd items like fugu (puffer fish) and a bracken fern
 CS> that you can safely eat only a small amount of, it's good stuff.

 CS> Oh and when there, be careful of some of the mushrooms.  They have a
 CS> wider view of what is acceptable there and some of the 'magic
 CS> mushrooms' will get you in trouble with the law here. (sold openly
 CS> there as a legal intoxicant and used in small amounts even by old
 CS> grannies with arthritis). xxcarol

Useful cautions... even if I never get there myself...  I'd love to
someday, but don't really see it on the horizon... ;)

ttyl       neb

... If you can't stay healthy, find a sickness you like.