About Sea Vegetables
by Jackie Barnhardt
Open Harvest Food Co-op; Lincoln, NE
Why are so many people I know fascinated by the water? I don't mean just splashing bubbles. I mean people who are ocean dreamers, river trekkers and all night fisherman. People who often loll in the bathtub for a couple of hours at a time and dress up as mermaids for Halloween.
Recently, a conversation with a mermaid enlightened me. She mused that it must be the enormous aquifer under Nebraska (which is the world's largest underground water body.) Or perhaps the magnet is Salt Creek and Capitol Beach, whose saline residues are nature's memory of the ocean that covered Nebraska millions of years ago.
This may be why people are interested in learning more about vegetables from the sea. Like the mineral rich ocean, sea vegetables hold high quality calcium, iron, potassium and trace elements. No other food found on land or sea packs as many nutrients. In fact, our blood contains the same one hundred or so minerals and trace elements as in the ocean.
Most sea vegetables are salty flavored and can be used as a condiment. They can add a lot of interesting flavor to soups, salads, sandwiches, vegetable and rice dishes. Sea vegetables are dried and packaged.
AGAR-AGAR or just agar, is a vegetable gelatin used over 1000 years in Asia. It is boiled, pressed into cakes, then dried and flaked. It contains no calories and is used in desserts, jellies and "jello" type dishes called kanten. It is also used in the Petri dishes used in biology labs. Use one tablespoon flakes to one cup of fruit juice. Boil, reduce heat, stir in agar, and simmer 5 minutes. Pour over fruit arranged in a mold. Cool until firm.
ARAME is a black seaweed sliced into long strands. It is a variety of kelp with a mild sweet flavor and is great with other vegetables. Soak 15 minutes before use.
DULSE is red with fan shaped fronds. Dried, it can be eaten raw as "beef jerky of the sea." Sauté in a little oil until crisp to create a mild smoky flavor for a delicious DLT sandwich. It was commonly served in 18th century Britain with fish, potatoes and butter. It is good in chowders. Do not soak first.
HIZIKI or hijiki is a black, curly seagrass that climbs over rocks and sea bottoms. It has a mild flavor and is good stir-fried with other vegetables, making it a nutritious side dish. Soak before using. In the Far East, it is an esteemed food that is said to increase beauty as well as strengthening and adding luster to hair.
KELP is the fastest growing plant on land or sea, growing up to 2 feet daily and reaching over 1000 feet in length. Nearly 900 varieties are known, including arame, kombu and wakame (these are packaged separately). Kelp is usually packaged in capsules as a supplement.
KOMBU is a sea vegetable whose name is often interchanged with kelp. It is good in soup stocks and stews and is often cooked with beans to make them easier to digest. Soak 15 minutes before use. It is delicious layered with root vegetables in a casserole and sprinkled with a ginger-tamari sauce, then baked.
NORI, also known as laver, was originally harvested by scraping it from bamboo stalks growing wild in shallow mud flat. It is now grown on the open ocean by seeding ropes and stretching just below the surface. Nori is dried in sheets, similar to old-fashioned paper making. Dry weight is 50% protein. Toast over open flame or burner and crumble on salads, soup, vegetables or rice. Sushi nori sheets are ready to use to make sushi.
WAKAME is harvested in Japan and grows in long, thin ribbons. ALARIA is biologically almost identical and is harvested in Maine. Soak wakame only 5 minutes, any longer and it becomes too soft. Remove the spine, and save for soups.