Horseradish
HORS-rad-ish
Armoracia rusticana
Sharp, hot, nasal, pungent.
What it is
Horseradish is the pungent root of Armoracia rusticana, a hardy plant in the cabbage family, with a sharp, nasal heat that hits the sinuses rather than the tongue. Like mustard, its bite only develops when the root is grated and its cells are broken, releasing the volatile compounds, and that heat fades quickly unless fixed with vinegar. It is the classic accompaniment to roast beef and an ingredient in cocktail sauce and many European dishes. Most jarred wasabi is actually dyed horseradish, since true wasabi is rare and costly. Fresh-grated horseradish is far fiercer than the jarred kind.
Similar but different
Easy to mix up, different enough that swapping changes the dish.
- Wasabisharp, nasal, fresh, fleeting heat.
Compare head to head
What it pairs with
Goes wrong with: delicate dishes; the heat is aggressive.
Common in French cooking.
Whole vs ground
The pungency lives in the freshly grated root and fades fast, so horseradish is grated just before use or sold as a vinegar-stabilized prepared sauce.
How to handle it
Grate the fresh root just before serving and mix with a little vinegar to fix the heat. The fumes are sharp, so grate in a ventilated spot.
Storage
Whole root keeps in the fridge for weeks. Prepared horseradish keeps refrigerated but loses heat over time.
Buying note
A firm, heavy root grated fresh is far hotter than jarred. Prepared horseradish ranges from mild to fierce, so taste it.
Classic dishes
roast beef, cocktail sauce, horseradish cream, Bloody Mary.
Out of horseradish? Substitutes
No substitute is exact. These are the closest by flavor behavior, with the ratio to start from and how the result will differ.
| Use instead | Ratio | How it differs |
|---|---|---|
| Wasabi | use less | similar nasal heat, greener and grassier |
| hot mustard | to taste | shares the nose heat with a different flavor |
One odd thing
Most wasabi served outside Japan is actually dyed horseradish, since real wasabi is scarce and expensive.