Brown-mustard-seed paste, sharper and hotter than yellow mustard. Pairs with natto, oden, tonkatsu, shumai.
Mustard reached Japan via China by at least the Nara period (710-794) — it appears as 'pounded mustard' (舂芥子) in the Shosoin documents — and by the Heian period was widely cultivated; records in the Engishiki (927) list it as imperial offering. Industrial milling of powdered karashi spread as modern spice makers arose in the early 20th century; S&B's predecessor (Hikashiya) was founded in 1923 making Japan's first domestic curry powder, and S&B's squeeze-tube neri-garashi did not appear until 1970.
S&B Oriental Mustard tube (1971) is the household default; the company sells 30 million tubes/year. Karashi-renkon (mustard-stuffed lotus root, deep-fried) is Kumamoto's regional specialty — invented in 1632 for the sickly Hosokawa Tadatoshi by monk Genteki to boost his iron intake.
Mustard-yellow paste, smooth, paint-thick. Heat is fast-up, sharp, sinus-clearing, drops in under a minute. No vinegar tang (unlike Western yellow mustard). A pea-sized dab on natto kills the ammonia note; a thumb on oden daikon is canonical.
Brown-mustard glucosinolates (sinigrin) hydrolyze to allyl-isothiocyanate when myrosinase enzyme meets cold water — never hot, which kills the enzyme. Mix powder with 30°C water, rest 10 minutes for full pungency to develop.
Variations
Wa-garashi (和辛子, Japanese powder + cold water), neri-garashi (練り辛子, pre-mixed tube paste), karashi-renkon (Kumamoto stuffed lotus), karashi-zuke (mustard-pickled vegetables, Kyushu), and the supermarket S&B vs House Foods tube war.
On the Palate
Where Karashi sits in the Japanese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4How it's made
4 steps · 6 min active + 10 min waiting
- 13 min
Grind 50 g brown mustard seed in spice grinder to fine powder.
- 22 min
Whisk in 2 tbsp cold water and 1/4 tsp salt to smooth thick paste.
Watch outMix with cold water only — hot water kills the enzyme that makes the heat, so you'd get a dull yellow paste with no kick at all.
- 310 min
Let stand 10 min for full sharp heat to develop.
Watch outCover and rest a full 10 minutes before serving — the sharp nose-hitting heat only builds after the paste sits; use it too soon and it's flat.
- 41 min
Serve a small dab alongside natto, oden, tonkatsu, or shumai.
