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Sea Vegetables: Nori, Wakame, and Kombu
by Jackie Miyasaka, from the March 2003 newsletter
Sea vegetables have been harvested for centuries in Japan and are an important
part of the daily diet. Three of the major sea vegetables used in Japan (and
available at the Co-op) are nori, wakame, and kombu.
Nori is the most familiar sea vegetable to us here in the U.S., because it is the paper-thin sheet used to wrap sushi rolls. Nori starts as small, soft, algae spores that attach themselves to netting on the surface of shallow bays. These spores gradually grow into wavy leaves and are harvested. On shore, the nori is washed, chopped, pressed into thin sheets between mats on wooden frames, and left to dry.
Like all sea vegetables, nori is high in minerals. It also has the highest vitamin A content of all the sea vegetables. It is one of the few sea vegetables low in sodium. Aside from sushi, nori can be shredded over noodles or wrapped around rice balls. It is also used in rice crackers. Once opened, bags of nori should be stored in an airtight container or in the refrigerator and used as soon as possible. Nori easily absorbs moisture and loses its crispness.
Wakame is a long, dark green, fern-like sea vegetable that grows on the ocean floor. After it is cut and floats to the surface, it is raked together and brought ashore, where it is washed and hung on ropes to dry. Wakame is high in dietary fiber, calcium, iodine, and alginic acid, among other vitamins and minerals. The alginic acid in wakame is said to bond with heavy metals, make them insoluble, and remove them from the body. In fact, I recently read that after the Nagasaki bombing, people who ate a strict diet of brown rice and miso soup with sea vegetables did not suffer from radiation poisoning.
Wakame works as a blood-thinning agent, so people taking anti-coagulating medications should avoid it. Wakame is used mainly in soups and salads. It is the green sea vegetable commonly found in miso soup. Wakame is sold in individual dried leaves and must be soaked in water to soften before using. It should be stored in a cool, dry place.
Kombu is a ribbon-like, dark green, leafy plant that grows to around 3 feet high on the ocean floor in shallow water. The best kombu grows in Japan's cold northern waters. After the leaves are cut and brought ashore, they are folded and dried in the sun. I recently tried raw kombu before it was dried, and it was delicious! For the most part, dried kombu is used in simmered dishes and soup stock (it softens when cooked in liquid). However, it is also sold as a powder for tea. Like wakame, kombu is high in alginic acid, dietary fiber, iodine, and calcium. It is also rich in glutamic acid, the ingredient that researchers found to be kombu's natural flavor enhancer and that drove them to develop a synthetic form, the much-despised monosodium glutamate (MSG).
These three sea vegetables have been used for centuries in Japan to lower cholesterol levels, stabilize blood pressure, cleanse the blood, and treat hypothyroid conditions. Because of their extremely high mineral content, sea vegetables are effective in small amounts. Ideally, they should be used regularly as a supplementary ingredient in meals.
Wakame and Cucumber Salad
1 cup cucumber, sliced as thinly as possible into rounds
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (4 four-inch-long pieces) dried wakame
1 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tbsp. water
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. soy sauce
Sprinkle cucumber slices with salt. When they soften, lightly squeeze the water out of them. Soak wakame 10 minutes in water to soften, and then cut into 1-inch lengths. Make dressing by mixing vinegar, water, sugar, and soy sauce. Stir cucumbers and wakame into dressing.
Simmered Soybeans with Kombu
2 3/4 cups dried soybeans
7 cups water
1/3 cup sugar
5 tbsp. soy sauce
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 tsp. baking soda
30g (4 seven-inch pieces) kombu
Mix water, sugar, soy sauce, salt, and baking soda in a saucepan. Add soybeans and soak overnight.
Heat soybeans in saucepan to boiling, then reduce heat to low. Cut a piece of foil into a circle with a diameter a little bigger than the size of saucepan, and then fold in the edges to make a disk about 1 inch smaller than the diameter of the saucepan (or use a lid that is about 1 inch smaller than the pan). Place this foil "drop-lid" (otoshibuta) directly on the soybeans inside the saucepan. Simmer 30-40 minutes, removing the drop-lid occasionally to skim off any foam that appears.
Cut kombu into 1/2-inch squares. Add kombu to saucepan, replace the drop-lid, and slowly simmer at very low heat for 2-1/2 to 3 hours until the liquid is almost gone and the soybeans are soft and flavorful.
When most of the liquid has been absorbed, the dish is finished and the beans should be removed from the heat. If you let the beans cool naturally in the pan, they will continue to absorb even more flavor! In Japan, this dish would be served as a side dish with rice and several other dishes.
Jackie Miyasaka works as a freelance Japanese-English translator in Pullman.
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