Arnold
Lara MFresh and Dried Seaweed
February 26th 2008 00:10
Seaweed is very much a food staple in East Asia, especially in Japanese and Korean cuisine where it is extensively used in both fresh and dried form.
Commonly known as nori in Japan and gim in Korea, seaweed of the porphyra kind is widely used in soups, to wrap sushi or as a condiment in shredded form. The existence of seaweed as part of the Japanese diet has lasted many centuries and is arguably one of the most used ingredients in daily cooking.
In Japan, the three most commonly used types of seaweed are:
- Kombu
- Nori
- Wakame
The kombu is a large and thick type of seaweed used only in soup stock where it is soaked until soft. Green in colour and smooth in texture, kombu is also used in dishes where there is a fair amount of liquid i.e. Nabe dishes or more commonly known as sukiyaki and shabu-shabu.
Kombu
Nori are thin and dried pieces of seaweed most commonly used for wrapping sushi, as a condiment or eaten with a generous sprinkling of salt as a snack. The texture is usually quite rough but paper thin and very crispy.
Last but not least, wakame is also a large type of seaweed used in soups (miso) or in sunomono salads. Most commonly found in dried form, wakame is noticeably thinner than kombu but still requires a generous soak in water for it to become salt and edible.
Nori
Since seaweed has been a mainstay in the Japanese diet for so long, it has no doubt played a huge part in the good health and well-being of the Japanese which has one of the oldest living populations in the world.
Seaweed contains a lot of minerals required by humans such as calcium, sodium, magnesium, potassium, iodine, iron, and zinc and vitamins such as vitamin A, B1, B2, B6, niacin, vitamin C, pantothenic acid, and folic acid.
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