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Edible seaweed, also known as marine algae, has taken on the chic moniker ‘sea vegetables’. Algae are neither plant nor animal, but are their own classification. These sea vegetables contain many nutrients; iron, vitamin K, iodine, folate and calcium to name a few.
Seaweeds tend to be used more in foods in coastal communities around the world than anywhere else. They have been part of diets in China, Japan and Korea since prehistoric times. If you have eaten sushi or miso soup, you have eaten seaweed.
The edible bits of marine algae, now known as sea vegetables, fall into three color-coded groups: green and blue, brown and red.
Nori, a member of the red algae/seaweed family, is the most recognized and consumed seaweed thanks to Japanese sushi. It is the paper-like black seaweed that is used to make sushi rolls and is pictured above. It has a sweet and meaty flavor. It can also be added to miso soup and salads. It has the highest protein of all the seaweeds and it is rich in calcium, iodine, iron, phosphorous, potassium, manganese, copper, zinc and vitamins A, B, C, E and K.
Kelp comes in several varieties, arame, kombu and wakame, and all are members of the brown algae/seaweed family. The kelp seaweeds are popular in Japanese cooking and are full of nutrition.
- Arame looks like oak tree leaves. It tastes sweet and nutty and is usually sold dried. It is good with salads, stews and casseroles, and beans, grains or noodles. It is rich in iron, calcium, potassium and iodine.
- Kombu has been used in Japan for 300 years and is primarily used to make a rich Japanese soup stock called dashi. It contains the following nutrients: alginate, calcium, carotene, chromium, germanium, iodine, iron, magnesium, mannitol, phosphorous, phytohormones, potassium, protein, and vitamins A, C, D, E, K.
- Wakame is eaten both dried and fresh and is prevalent in Japanese dishes, especially soups, casseroles and stews and rice. It contains one of the highest sources of calcium and protein.
You can buy sea vegetables at some supermarkets, natural food stores and Asian markets. Organic seaweed is preferred because of pollution in the ocean.
Here are a few websites that sell sea vegetables, some also provide recipes:
www.oceanvegetables.com
www.edenfoods.com
www.seaveg.com
www.loveseaweed.com
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