Seaweed

Katherine · June 7, 2003

I know a woman whose mother, a native of Japan, came to visit her on the coast of Maine. They went for a walk on the beach, and the older woman gathered up an armful of the seaweed (the stringy kind with the bubbles in it), took it back to the house, prepared and served it.

Nick · June 7, 2003

Here's the website of a company here in Maine that harvests and sells different sea weeds. I haven't heard of anyone "farming" weed in Maine.

gus_tatory · June 7, 2003

Katherine and others--

that's so cool that the older japanese woman was harvesting fucus (yes, that's the name for that burgundy, bubbled seaweed) for use!

my mom used to gather irish moss on nova scotia beaches for use in gelled desserts. it's harvested commercially, and used as a texturing agent--look at many, many foods and it's labelled as carageenan.

besides what FG mentioned about seaweeds tasting great, they're one of the only foods that have the spectrum of trace minerals in them, as of course their habitat is the sea...

torakris · June 7, 2003

In Japan, it is done by both methods, though cultivation is much more popular.

There are even seaweed flats out in the middle of Tokyo Bay!

mudbug · July 26, 2003

Looking for any information on how to use this "Land Seaweed"

The scientific/Latin/botanical name is Salsola komarovi.

How to eat this? Methods of preparation? Any help would be appreciated. Found the following pictures but not positive as to which is the most common for Okahijiki (assuming the last three).

Edited July 26, 2003 by mudbug (log)

torakris · July 26, 2003

okahijiki is used mostly in dressed salads (aemono) and vinegared salads (sunomono), it is especially wonderful in a shira-ae dressing:

http://recipes.egullet.com/recipes/r328.html

edited to make me sound like I actually know English! :biggrin:

Edited July 27, 2003 by torakris (log)

mudbug · July 27, 2003

torakris,

Thank you. Please tell me, is the okahijiki blanched first? Soaked in water? Also, could you please post the full version of a recipe for shira-ae with authentic ingredients?

I really know nothing so you'll have to tell me.

:smile:

Edited July 27, 2003 by mudbug (log)

torakris · July 27, 2003

to prepare okahijiki trim off the hard ends then blanch in salted water for a minute or so, refresh in an ice bath.

torakris · July 27, 2003

about shira-ae

My posted recipe is sort of a quick version on the original which calls for the seame seeds to be roasted and then ground, I save a step (with no lack of flavor) by using seame paste.

There are not really any "traditional" ingredients, it is really one of those wonderful dishes that you can add any seasonal ingredient to. the most "traditional" one I can think of is something along the lines of gomoku (5 flavors) which would have 5 different ingredients preferably of different colors, such as shiitake, konnyaku, carrots, aburage and one or two green things (green vegetables, seaweed, cucumbers, etc).

I don't think I have ever made or eaten the same shira-ae twice.

jackal10 · July 27, 2003

I think this stuff ( I'm growing some) i closely related to Samphire.

Boil briefly, butter, suk the flesh off the stems..

jango · August 9, 2003

Is nori always sold already roasted?

Are there some kinds which are simply dried but not roasted?

If nori is green, but there is no mention of "roasting" on the label, do we presume that it is roasted?

Thanks for any enlightenment - I'm all googled out.

:blink:

torakris · August 9, 2003

Actually most nori (in Japan at least) is sold unroasted allowing the person to roast it themselves be waving it over a gas flame.

Pre-roasted nori can be spotted by the words yaki nori on the package. It is preferable to roast nori before using it with sushi so some packets of yakinori may also be labeled as sushi nori. There is no need to toast the yaki nori types.

There is also flavored nori called ajitsuke nori that comes in various flavors most commonly soy, but 3 of my favorites are ume, wasbi and shiso (these may be hard to find out of Japan)

Another thing to remember about nori is that there are 2 kinds

asakusa nori which is harvested from bays

iwanori which is harvested from the shore

both are dried into flat sheets and look the same but asakusa is higher quality and preferable for sushi.

jango · August 11, 2003

Thanks for responding. Can I bug you with another question?

Do home cooks make sheets of nori themselves? And if they do does it taste better? - in the way that homemade pasta sheets taste better than storebought........ and homemade tortillas etc etc.

torakris · August 11, 2003

this doesn't really answer your question but it is an interesting article about the history of nori:

http://www.sushiandtofu.com/sushi_and_tofu...healthNori2.htm

torakris · August 18, 2003

Thanks for responding. Can I bug you with another question?
Do home cooks make sheets of nori themselves? And if they do does it taste better? - in the way that homemade pasta sheets taste better than storebought........ and homemade tortillas etc etc.

I have been looking around and asking around about making your own nori, it seems to be one of those things akin to candle making in the US. Basically it is only down in those touristy historical village type areas where you pay someone to teach you and you walk away with one sheet. From what I can gather it was rarely made at home, either it was made by the local "nori maker" or maybe made in groups.

I am sure like most handmade products the handmade nori probably tastes better but I can't find anyone who has tasted it......... :wink:

jrufusj · August 27, 2003

How funny we should be talking about how/where nori is made...

Saturday night we had a cocktail party with about 25 people and, among other things, I made a huge batch of hosu maki. When we were toasting the nori, my almost 5 year-old son was going on and on asking about how nori was made and I only escaped the repetitive (you understand what I mean if you have kids that age) questioning by promising to arrange a visit to a nori "plant".

Of course, being the inquisitive, food-driven type I am, I am secretly looking forward to the field trip as well.

Any suggestions?

Also, re: flavored nori -- in Korea, except for sushi nori, almost all nori is salted and fairly heavily flavored with sesame oil. Delicious as a snack or a garnish for plain gohan, but pretty useless for most food combinations.

Thanks in advance for any "field trip" tips. Either Korea or Japan are convenient possibilities, as I kind of live back and forth between the two.

Jim

torakris · August 27, 2003

How funny we should be talking about how/where nori is made...
Saturday night we had a cocktail party with about 25 people and, among other things, I made a huge batch of hosu maki. When we were toasting the nori, my almost 5 year-old son was going on and on asking about how nori was made and I only escaped the repetitive (you understand what I mean if you have kids that age) questioning by promising to arrange a visit to a nori "plant".

I know nothing about places in Korea, but I am sure in most of the coastal areas that are famous for their nori, they will let you watch it being made.

Here is one place in Mie-ken that actually lets you make it!

http://www.geocities.jp/canonfumi/wajyuunosato.htm

Japanese only

FoodZealot · September 3, 2003

Everyone, thank you for the info about the various kinds of nori.

I was just reminded of one of my recent obsessions - noriten. It's essentially a piece of nori that is dipped in tempura batter (usually one side), then fried crisp. My local noodle place puts one piece in the assorted tempura. Deep fried umami!

It's also available in bags like potato chips at a Japanese market. Unfortunately, these are loaded with fat, preservatives and sodium. I get them in the small bag...

~Tad

FoodZealot · September 22, 2003

I went to my favorite Korean market and remembered the discussion of Korean sesame oil seasoned nori. On top of that, there was a woman handing out samples, and I got a bunch. As billed, it's delicious and crispy, too. Thanks, everyone.

BTW, when toasting nori, I suggest that you take care to not burn it, as it causes a peculiar and, to me, unappetizing smell - kinda smells like burnt hair.

~Tad

edit: used incorrect definition of an eGullet moment

Edited September 22, 2003 by FoodZealot (log)

dornachu · September 29, 2003

Hi all-

I'm new to this forum, but what a WONDERFUL place to learn about japanese culture/food/ even the language!! (daily nihongo)!!

I was trying to replicate the wakame salad that one can get at a regular japanese restaurant, but without success. I bought one of those dried seaweed (fuero wakame, spelling??!) soak themin water, and blanched it breifly, but the texture came out to be sort of slimy! Also the ones I had at the restaurant has this gelatin thing...so yummy. Can someone please teach me how to do it? and what kind of wakame to get? Thank you!!

Dorna

torakris · September 29, 2003

Dorna,

welcome to egullet and the Japan Forum! :biggrin:

About the seaweed salad

Your wakame probably became slimy becasue it was overcooked, wakame needs a gentle handling and is best prepared right before serving. For a salad you should soak it in warm water for the specified time and then rinse it in cold water.

For a variety of seaweeds in your salad look for something called kaisou sarada 海草サラダ or seaweed salad, this a mix of various seaweeds and often even contains a dressing packet. Or look for kaisou mikkusu 海草ミックスor seaweed mix which is a package or various seaweeds. If there is nothing like this available then you may need to buy individual seaweeds, good ones for salad are:

aka-tosaka nori -- this is the lacey red one (aka meaning red) this is also available in green (ao-tosaka nori) and white (shiro-tosaka nori)

shiro-ogo nori -- the white "crunchy" one" also available in light green (ogo nori)

matsu nori and fu nori are also nice additions to salads

dornachu · September 30, 2003

Thank you !! Now how about the dressing? I only remember quite a strong taste of sesame oil.....

torakris · September 30, 2003

Thank you !! Now how about the dressing? I only remember quite a strong taste of sesame oil.....

it seems the most popular dressing for seaweed salads is a dressing made with soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil and a pinch of sugar

I like to thow some chunks of tofu in my salad and dress it with a (purchased) sesame dressing for a quick meal.

in Japan it is also popular to dress it with the non-oil shiso or yuzu dressings.

helenjp · September 30, 2003

Also the "fueru wakame" is never going to have the best texture. It is DEFINITELY easy to use, but salted wakame or even fresh, is much nicer. Sad, but true. :sad:

Aix · April 27, 2004

I was excited to find little packages of what appears to be salted wakame in a specialized Japanese grocery store. I didn't give it a second thought since I love fresh seaweed salad.

How do you prepare this? I suppose it needs to soak? Does it have to be blanched? Any technique or recipe? I'm guessing rice vinegar, mirin, sugar, sesame oil, sesame seeds and red chilies, right?

I also have various dry seaweed in my cupboard. Should I combine?

TIA

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