Thread: Try Sea Vegetables

I have recently discovered edible sea weeds (also called sea vegetables by those who don't want to eat weeds).

Sea weeds are super nutritious, being full of vitamins and minerals, and come dried - so they are easy to store. I'm still learning ways to use them.

Some lend themselves to snacking or adding to a lunch that's otherwise veggie-skimpy. Dulse and sheet nori are good this way. Just eat right out of the bag. Dulse can be sauteed in oil to make it crunchy, but I haven't perfected this yet. A word about dulse - it's really salty tasting, but I have read that the salty taste comes from potassium. If you don't like really salty food you may want to skip dulse.

I like the various kelps cooked with my greens (I eat kale and collards regularly). There are several of these - kombu and wakame are two names to look for.

Then there are those that are like little black strings - hijiki, arame, and others. I have really enjoyed salads with grated carrot and daikon radish, chopped parsley, and soaked hijiki, dressed with olive oil and lemon juice.

Any other sea weed eaters out there? I'd love to learn how you eat them.

Alice

I played around some more with cooking the dulse. I put a bit of olive oil in a frying pan, heated it on medium high and covered the bottom of the pan with dulse. When the bottom turned brown in a minute or so, I turned them over and in another minute the other side was brown. Scooped them out and drained on a paper towel lined plate.

They were crunchy, salty and ocean-y tasting - like a cross between caviar and potato chips. Kind of an acquired taste, but I'm well on the way to acquiring it. Meanwhile, I'm eating a really nutritious vegetable.

Barb,

I can't wait to hear about your experiments. I discovered that sauteeing the dulse in coconut oil is very good.

Alice

I tried nori once and had to throw my breakfast away

I wish I knew someone who could show me what to do with them the Proper Way -- I remember having some snacky stingy ones in grade school that an Asian friend shared with me. Yum!

HI, guys,

Oh, Sharron, yuck! I remember following a recipe from a hfs about thirty years ago. It was cucumber and some kind of sea weed. It seemed very un-inspiring to me and I never tried it again, until this past year.

Sharron - the stringy stuff may have been hijiki. Was it black? I have heard this one recommended as a good starter sea vegetable. You do soak it in water first. About 15 -30 minutes (the package label tells). Add it to a salad or a stir-fry. I made a broccoli-hijiki-carrot-onion-sesame seed stir fry that I really liked.

Another one like little strings is arame. It is a kelp - a different seaweed family from hijiki. It was in the salad I took to Barb's birthday party. Here is a thumbnail recipe.

Soak 1/2 cup arame in water to cover for 15 minutes (or 30 if that's what the package says).

Grate one medium carrot and one large daikon radish. Chop up half a bunch of parsley.

Drain arame and combine with other vegetables. Sprinkle on ev olive oil (my fave) and juice of a lemon.

I love this stuff. Just typing out the recipe has me starting to crave it!

Barb - I'm happy with soaking in water. If you try soaking in milk, let us know what you think.

I also like combining the bigger kelps (kombu, wakame) with my cooked greens. Especially with some onion and cooked in bacon fat, it's sublime.

I'm toying with the idea of adding some (soaked) hijiki to a seafood/mayonnaise/celery type salad. If I do, I'll let you guys know how it turned out.

Alice

LOL, now the question is: Will I be able to remember this next time I get to go to the Asian market