Asia Food. 2008March5Accessed. http://www.asiafood.org/
A member of the brown algae family, it is cultivated in the warm Pacific waters off Honshu and Kyushu. Between spring and early summer the green, ribbon-like tresses are sold fresh. Wakame is also sold dried or moist and salted. More usually, however, it is found in dried form. If dry, it needs up to 2 hours soaking. Washed, vinegared and chilled, it makes sunomono (a light, refreshing salad) and aemono (more substantial dressed salads).
Dried, it resembles pale brown tresses with a whitish bloom. Premium wakame should have a rich, green-black hue. Moist wakame must be soaked in warm water for 10-15 minutes and the tough mid-rib sections cut away before use. It is used in soups, added a couple of minutes before serving. Its texture is crunchy and the flavour very much the essence of the ocean. A valuable source of nutrients, it is particularly rich in calcium, niacin and protein and is virtually calorie free.
In Chinese cuisine, especially around the Chinese New Year, a different 'seaweed' attains prominence - the black, hair-like sea vegetable Gracilaria verrucosa. Also called black moss, sea hair and hair seaweed, it is moderately expensive.
Excerpts from Passmore, Jacki. 1991. The Encyclopedia of Asian Food and Cooking. Hearst Books, New York.
is a deep green to brown, curly-leafed type of seaweed that belongs to the brown algae family, many different types of which are eaten in Asia. The green type is used as a vegetable in northern China, Korea and Japan, being simmered in soups and stews and used in salads with a vinegar dressing. It is sold dried in small packs and should be kept very dry in storage. Soak in cold water until softened before use. The brown type, known as arame in Japan, is of a less delicate flavor; it is usually minced and added to dishes or served with rice. This seaweed, which is black-brown and crinkly in its dry state, bears a strong resemblance to wood ear fungus.
Grimes, William. 2004. Eating Your Worlds. Oxford University Press.
is an edible brown seaweed used, typically in dried form, in Chinese and Japanese cooking.
- ORIGIN Japanese.
