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Under the Sea: A Guide to Common Edible Seaweed, From Crispy Snacks to Ice Cream by josie

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Crispy seaweed sheets, such as Annie Chun's Roasted Seaweed Snacks, can be a healthful alternative to chips.

During the beach visits of my East Coast childhood, seaweed was a slippery, slimy item that clung to rocks and was treacherous underfoot. Now, edible algae are hip, nutritious snacks. At supermarkets and health-food stores, you’ll find little packages of crispy nori seaweed sheets seasoned with salt, wasabi, sesame, pepper and herbs, and even brown sugar and sea salt.

If you haven’t tried these crackly sheets from stores such as Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods and the brand Annie Chun’s, you’ll find they’re as addictive as potato chips, yet far more nutritious. Roasted seaweed snacks are low in calories, yet rich in protein and iodine (helpful for thyroid function).

Maine Coast Sea Vegetables brand also makes seaweed snacks, including chewy applewood-smoked dulse strips, sesame-ginger kelp crunch, and Sea Chips, made with corn, dulse, kelp, garlic and onion powder. (Maine Coast’s online shop is closed until Sept. 4, however, so you’ll have to wait to sample these sea snacks.)

So what’s with this seaweed craze? No doubt, part of it has to do with our love of sushi, which often includes nori-wrapped rice rolls, sesame-dressed seaweed salad, and miso soup filled with green wisps of kelp. Then, there is the health aspect. According to an article in the Journal of Functional Foods, the brown, red and green pigments found in the three varieties of seaweed have antioxidant, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and even anti-obesity properties. Seaweed also brims with vitamins and minerals and contains some protein and fiber with very few calories. No wonder it’s been an integral part of the Japanese, Korean and Chinese diet since prehistoric times.

Below are descriptions of some of the most popular and readily available seaweeds, along with their health benefits. With the exception of dulse, these are courtesy of The Seaweed Site, a comprehensive guide to marine macroalgae run by Michael Dominic Guiry, a seaweed expert in Ireland, who has written numerous books and articles on the subject.

Nori
This is the Japanese name for various edible seaweed species of the red algae (Porphyra) family. Generally available in dried sheets, nori wraps sushi rice rolls and is shredded into thin strips to add a briny touch when sprinkled over Japanese soups, noodle dishes and salads. Lately, nori has been seasoned and sold as a healthy new snack food. Nori is rich in protein, iodine and, by weight, contains 1.5 times more vitamin C than oranges. However, you’d have to eat a lot of nori — one serving of Annie Chun’s seafood snacks contains 15 percent of your daily value of vitamin C, while one orange contains more than 100 percent.

Kombu
This is the Japanese name for a group of seaweeds called kelp, although the term kombu is usually used for Japan’s most popular kelp species, Saccharina japonica (Laminariales), a thick variety with a pronounced seaweed flavor. In its dried form, it’s used with dried bonito fish flakes to create dashi, the base of most Japanese soups, including miso soup. The Japanese also enjoy this popular kelp soft and pickled and in powdered form to thicken soups and sauces, as well as in its fresh form to add to cooking beans to improve their digestibility. This type of kelp abounds with glutamic acid, a natural flavor booster (and substitute for monosodium glutamate); recipes for vegan soups and stews often call for kombu.

Wakame 
A thin, feathery kind of kelp, wakame shows up at almost every meal in Japan, mainly as the bright green wisps in miso soup. It has a very mild flavor, so it’s also used in numerous salads dressed with vinegar and sugar. A study at Hokkaido University in Japan found that a natural compound in wakame may have anti-obesity properties.

Irish Moss
This spongy, bushy red seaweed, Chondrus crispus, grows abundantly in Ireland, where it was traditionally boiled in milk with sugar to release the seaweed’s gelling agent (carrageenan) to create a sweet, milky pudding called blancmange. Carrageenan is commonly used as a gelling agent in many food products today, including ice cream.

Dulse
Also hailing from the red algae family, this leafy, crimson-colored seaweed usually is eaten dried, commonly in Ireland and Scotland, where it’s enjoyed as a briny, chewy snack that pairs particularly well with dark ales and stouts. It contains ample fiber, a small amount of protein, and a good dose of vitamin B6 — plus it’s high in iron, calcium, potassium and magnesium.

Here’s an easy seaweed recipe that makes a fabulous cocktail nibble, adapted from Everyday Harumi: Simple Japanese Food for Family & Friends (Conran Octopus, 2009) by Harumi Kurihara.

Scallops With Nori Seaweed
Serves 4
½ cup mirin
1¼ cups low-sodium soy sauce
4-inch piece kombu seaweed (dried kelp wiped of any salty deposits)
7 ounces fresh sea scallops
Vegetable oil for frying (about 1 tablespoon)
Shichimi togarashi or chili pepper flakes
Nori seaweed sheets

1. Place the mirin in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Let cook over low heat for 2–3 minutes to burn off the alcohol. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the soy and kombu to the mirin. Cool mixture and refrigerate in a sealed container.

2. Shortly before cooking the scallops, place them in a bowl and marinate them in the cold soy mixture for 2–3 minutes.

3. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add scallops and cook for 1–2 minutes on each side, or until golden all over. Sprinkle scallops with shichimi togarashi or chili pepper flakes.

4. Using clean scissors, cut nori sheet into small squares that can “sandwich” the top and bottom of each scallop. Place each scallop between two pieces of cut nori and serve immediately while seaweed is crispy.

NUTRITION SCORE (per serving)
96 calories
Fat 3 g
 (0.3 g saturated)
Carbs 6 g
Protein 8 g
Fiber 0.4 g
Calcium 17 mg
Iron 0.8 mg
Sodium 859 mg

What’s your favorite way to eat seaweed?

Photo credit: Courtesy Annie Chun’s


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