When KTVU News came to Half Moon Bay looking for something surprising that is “Made in the Bay,” anchor Pam Cook found it growing inside our greenhouses: real wasabi. There are only a few wasabi farms in the US and wasabi is the only crop that we grow.
KTVU recently visited Half Moon Bay Wasabi for a feature that takes viewers inside our farm, where thousands of wasabi plants thrive in the cool, foggy climate of the Northern California coast.
Many longtime Bay Area residents are surprised to learn wasabi is grown right here in Half Moon Bay.
Why Grow Wasabi in Half Moon Bay?
Wasabi has a reputation for being one of the more difficult commercial crops to grow. There’s a good reason for that.
The plants grow slowly, taking roughly two years to reach maturity, and they are sensitive to their environment. That makes experimenting with growing techniques a particularly slow process. Change something today and it can take months to understand the effect.
Fortunately, one thing Half Moon Bay has in abundance is weather that wasabi likes.
The cool temperatures and famous coastal fog that can frustrate beachgoers create an unusually favorable environment for a plant that doesn’t like prolonged heat or intense direct sunlight.
As co-founder Jeff Roller told KTVU, “The main thing is that this weather that we all complain about in Half Moon Bay—this fog, typically this time of year it’s going to be gray and cold—and this plant likes that.”
Your bad beach weather is wasabi's paradise.
KTVU's Zip Trips Comes to Half Moon Bay
The wasabi farm feature was part of KTVU FOX 2’s Zip Trips, a recurring summer series from the station’s Mornings on 2 team.
Instead of reporting from the studio, KTVU takes the show on the road to Bay Area cities and towns, highlighting the people, history, food and businesses that give each community its character.
For its August 2026 visit to Half Moon Bay, the KTVU team explored several local businesses and attractions, including a stop at Half Moon Bay Wasabi to see how one of the world’s most notoriously difficult crops is being grown on the California coast.
The story also fits nicely into another KTVU series, Made in the Bay, which highlights companies and products that are made right here in the San Francisco Bay Area.
For us, that local connection is particularly meaningful. Wasabi may have originated thousands of miles away, but every plant we sell is grown right here in Half Moon Bay.
Wait—The Wasabi at Most Sushi Restaurants Isn't Wasabi?
One of our favorite parts of the KTVU segment comes when the reporter tastes freshly grated wasabi.
Like many Americans, she wasn't particularly enthusiastic about “wasabi” because she associated it with the intensely hot green paste commonly served alongside sushi.
There's just one problem: much of that isn't actually fresh wasabi.
The familiar green paste is commonly made primarily from horseradish, often combined with mustard and green coloring. Real wasabi comes from the Wasabia japonica plant and offers a noticeably different experience.
After cautiously tasting ours, the reaction was immediate:
“Okay, that’s very different.”
Exactly.
Fresh wasabi has heat, but it also has complex vegetal, sweet and aromatic flavors. The pungency rises quickly and then fades rather than lingering. The goal isn't to overpower a beautiful piece of fish. It's to complement it.
By the end of the tasting, Half Moon Bay Wasabi had a new real-wasabi convert.
Why Wasabi Needs to Be Grated Fresh
KTVU also joined us at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in San Francisco, where we regularly give people their first taste of freshly grated wasabi.
One of the surprising things about a fresh wasabi stem is that it doesn't smell particularly pungent before you grate it.
Grating breaks down the plant's cells and triggers the chemical reactions responsible for wasabi's characteristic flavor and heat. That's why freshly grated wasabi is such a different experience from a prepared condiment.
It's also fleeting.
Fresh wasabi develops its flavor shortly after grating and then gradually begins losing pungency. That's why great sushi restaurants grate wasabi throughout service rather than preparing a large batch hours in advance.
How Bay Area Chefs Use Fresh Wasabi
KTVU followed the story from the farm to Rintaro in San Francisco, one of the restaurants we supply with fresh wasabi.
At the time of filming, Rintaro was using about seven pounds of Half Moon Bay Wasabi each week and grating fresh wasabi daily.
One of the things people are often surprised to learn is that virtually the entire wasabi plant is edible. Chefs can use the leaves, stems and seasonal flowers in addition to the familiar portion that is grated.
Rintaro demonstrated that beautifully for KTVU with a house-made wasabi pickle incorporating wasabi stems, flowers and freshly grated wasabi along with vinegar, soy sauce and sugar.
It's exactly the kind of creativity we love seeing from the chefs we work with.
Want to Taste Real Wasabi Yourself?
You don't have to make a reservation at a high-end sushi restaurant to experience fresh wasabi.
Half Moon Bay Wasabi sells freshly harvested wasabi directly to consumers, and we regularly bring it to the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market at San Francisco's Ferry Building. Stop on by for a free sample every Second Saturday. We also sell wasabi leaves and starter plants for adventurous gardeners who want to try growing their own.
If your previous experience with “wasabi” has been limited to the green paste that comes with takeout sushi, we'd especially like you to try it.
As Pam Cook discovered, you might be a convert too.
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