Horseradish in the Kitchen
Buying, Storing and Culinary Uses of Horseradish
Just remember, to retain pungency, horseradish should not be cooked.
Nutrition
A very pungent root that controls bacterial infections and lowers fever, horseradish has a lot of flavor and no fat. One tablespoon of prepared horseradish contains 6 calories, 1.4 grams of carbohydrates, 14 milligrams of sodium, 44 milligrams of potassium, 9 milligrams of calcium, and 5 milligrams of phosphorous.
Forms
When buying fresh roots, choose the ones without blemishes and not sprouting. Generally speaking, the whiter the root, the fresher it is. Peel only what you are going to use and grate or shred in a food processor. Make sure your kitchen is well-ventilated as the pungent oils are volatile. Dehydrated granules, flakes, or powder are readily available; just add vinegar to power them up. Varieties of prepared horseradish include regular (grated horseradish with vinegar), cream style, and beet horseradish. Other products containing horseradish include mustard, cocktail sauce, other sauces, dips, spreads, relishes, and dressings.
Storage
The smaller roots can be stored in the refrigerator in zip bags for up to two weeks, or frozen for a couple of months. Grated or otherwise processed horseradish should be kept in the refrigerator. The dried forms should be stored in sealed glass containers in the spice cabinet.
Culinary Uses
Horseradish preparations are usually served cold because so much pungency and flavor is lost when they are cooked. Often horseradish is made into a sauce or paste and served with roast beef or cold meats like ham or corned beef. It is commonly served with fish in Europe; for example, in Norway the grated root is mixed with whipped sweet and sour creams, vinegar and sugar to make a sauce called pepperotsaus that is served with cold, boiled fish such as salmon. The French mix it into cream sauces with lemon juice. Vinegar is commonly combined with it. It is mixed with green food coloring, or powdered spinach as served as “wasabi.” In Austria, freshly grated horseradish is mixed with grated sour apples and lemon juice to make a relish for fried or roasted meat.
A good sauce for horseradish products is here.
To search for horseradish recipes, go here.
Other uses of horseradish include:
- Adding it, plus hot sauce, to tomato juice for a morning bracer.
- Or to bloody marys, if you are inclined.
- Mixing it with mustard to increase the strength of the condiment.
- Adding it to scrambled eggs, omelettes, and hash browned potatoes.
- Grating a small amount into potato salad, coleslaw, or dips.
- Adding it to soups just before serving.
- Mixing it with prepared barbecue sauces.
- Mixing it with sour cream to add to mashed or baked potatoes.
- Sometimes beet juice is added to grated horseradish to brighten the color.
- Adding it to tartar sauce, seafood cocktail sauces, hollandaise sauce, mayonnaise, and salad dressings.
- Making a horseradish butter with mustard and a little yogurt.
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