From Japanese 'wasabi' — and most served worldwide is colored horseradish, since real wasabi is rare and costly.
A Japanese plant with a thick green root which is grated and used as a pungent condiment, especially with sushi.
From Japanese 'wasabi' (わさび), the name of the semiaquatic plant Eutrema japonicum (formerly Wasabia japonica), native to the cold, fast-flowing mountain streams of Japan. The kanji rendering 山葵 literally means 'mountain hollyhock' (山 yama, mountain + 葵 aoi, hollyhock/mallow), though the plant belongs to the Brassicaceae (mustard) family and is not a mallow. The further etymology of the Japanese phoneme sequence
Most 'wasabi' served outside Japan — and even in many Japanese restaurants — is not wasabi at all. It is colored horseradish mixed with mustard and food dye. Real wasabi (from the root of Wasabia japonica) is extremely expensive because the plant is notoriously difficult to cultivate: it requires cold, clean running water, shade, and takes