Ever wonder what type of seaweed is used for sushi or for that delicious wakame miso soup at your favorite Japanese restaurant? Discover the three basic kinds of edible red and brown seaweed: nori, wakame and kombu. These are some of the most widely used types of seaweed in Korean and Japanese restaurants. Learn more about nori, wakame and kombu, and buy seaweed to create your own healthy wakame miso soup and sushi rolls at home.
Common Brown Seaweed
Wakame – A well-known brown seaweed, wakame makes a nice addition to soups and salads. Dried wakame looks black (though up close it really is dark green), wiry and can be brittle. Before using wakame, rehydrate it in a bowl of cold water for at least ten to fifteen minutes. Once rehydrated, wakame should have a delicate, refreshing flavor and chewy texture. There are many easy and quick recipes that involve wakame, such as simple wakame soup with miso paste and tofu, seaweed soup or seasoned seaweed.
Kombu – In its dried state, this brown seaweed are flat sheets, relatively thick in comparison to wakame. Buyers will often find a white powdery material on the surface of kombu sheets. This white stuff is minerals containing natural glutamic salts that give kombu its unique flavor. Kombu is commonly used to make dashi, an indispensable traditional stock for soups in the Japanese kitchen. Although both wakame and kombu belong to the brown seaweed group, wakame should never be cooked for more than a few minutes, whereas kombu can be used in stews and beans dishes.
Nori: a Red Seaweed and Sushi Companion
Nori is probably the most popular type of red seaweed outside of Japan. They are sold as thin sheets, used primarily for making sushi. Mitoku, a Japanese exporter of natural and organic foods from Japan, reports that Japanese consume roughly 9 billion sheets of nori per year. Not surprising since nori carries a lot of nutrients, like iron and calcium, as well as vitamins A, B and C. Nori serves as a convenient and flavorful wrapper for cooked rice.
Where to Buy Seaweed and Order Seaweed
Shoppers can now buy seaweed harvested in Japan, Korea and China in local shops or online. Several European countries, like France and Ireland, have also started their own seaweed industries. The best places to begin looking are local Asian stores and health shops. Some seaweed, like nori, has become so popular that it can be found at major supermarket chains, such as Walmart and Carrefour. If you live in Europe and the UK, you can order seaweed from Japan Center, an online retailer of Japanese products. Asian Food Grocer is other online store that carries a variety of seaweed and seaweed products.
Sources:
Sontag, Marine, Cuisine & Saveur des Algues, Favre 2007
Mitoku.com/index
Justhungry.com
