All sorts of seaweed

I'm working on a story for the Tribune on seaweed. It's sort of a primer: types available, how to work with seaweed, health benefits (but just a little on that) and recipes.
I'm curious to find Chicago area folks who cook/eat/love the various forms of seaweed out there. And does anyone have a good recipe for hijiki?
Now don't be shy....my last query on wine shops drew a number of good responses but most weren't posted until the story ran and I couldn't use them. I'd like to try and get this story finished in the next two weeks, so if you have something to say about seaweed - favorite type, best recipe, biggest seaweed screw up and where you like to buy it - please let me know.
Write back to me here, or e-mail me at wdaley@tribune.com
Many thanks,
Bill Daley
Chicago Tribune

fyi: Elizabeth Andoh's Washoku offers a mini-primer on the types of seaweed used in the washoku kitchen. You might look into it.

Yes, I have the book...many books, actually.
But what I need are people, local people, who cook, eat, live (is that too strong a word?), with seaweed.
thanks for the advice, though.
Bill

I don’t know how this could possibly help Bill Daley’s column, but here goes …

Tonight, I was out of green vegetables, and I didn’t want to go to a store to stock up, knowing that I’ll be at the Evanston Farmer’s Market in 36 hours or so. But this topic reminded me that I have dried seaweed in the pantry (it's been in ther efor months - major convenience factor) – so, Seaweed Salad!

I know it’s a traditional Japanese dish. I also know that I’m a WASP who grew up and still lives on the North Shore – so what do I know from authentic seaweed salad? But I have attempted them before, and maybe I can’t do authentic, but I can make something that tastes pretty good to me.

I started by pulling out my packages of dried seaweed – most weren’t identified by species, the only identification on the packages was “dried seaweed.” But I believe I pulled together an assortment of hijiki, wakame, and arame.

(note that each package was less than $1, from the markets on Argyle. I’ve seen similar stuff at mainstream groceries and health food stores for 3x – 4x more.)


I also found some wild (feral?) garlic in my garden (can anyone tell me what this is exactly?) – thought that might be a nice addition. I steamed this.


I rehydrated the seaweeds with some dried mushrooms. I also grilled a chicken thigh. Since I was finishing the chicken in the oven, I threw the seaweed & mushrooms in the soaking liquid in the oven, too, to soften it a little more.

I made a basic dressing of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, toasted sesame oil, and a little sugar, then tossed everything together. I topped it off with some toasted sesame seeds and a hunk of grilled chicken thigh.

My Dad used to love quoting Shakespeare. One of his favorites was “I study to perfume the rose; I love to gild the lily.” In that spirit, I threw in a couple of Johnny-Jump-Up blossoms from my garden.


It wasn’t bad. In retrospect, a little grated ginger would have helped.

Thanks for your story. It's perfect ... exactly what I'm after. Real people, real lives. Do you think you can pull this into recipe form, especially the aauce...(ie, teaspoons, cups,etc.) I assume dinner for one?
I think it would be a blast to have the story in the article and your recipe alongside.

I typically don't measure when I cook, but I do taste. I'll see if I can put up some rough measurements later today.

I have never forgotten my first experience eating seaweed: my high school graduation present was a trip to Ireland, where I stayed with a family friend in a tiny town in the northwest called Tubbercurry. Local seaweed called Dilisk was served to us as a snack, and I immediately became addicted; it was chewy, briny and slightly sweet - a bit like a combination of steamed spinach and beef jerky.

I have vague memories of collecting it on the beach, and wondering how something we'd been stepping on could be so delicious. Wonder if it's available here - I think they have it in Canada as well.

My first seaweed memory was in Ireland too! I was six years old. I believe my relatives gave it to us "Yanks" as a joke, but I feel in love with the stuff. I ate it almost everyday and asked for it all the time when we got home. We'd go to the Irish Import store and my siblings would be clamoring for the candy bars and I'd be scouring the store for seaweed. Ah, I thought I was such an odd child until I started coming here.

Do you ever feel like you’re completely out of step with the rest of the world? Everyone and his brother/sister is into cicadas these days. Well, I have a fair number of well-established trees here, but no cicadas yet. So instead, I’m exploring seaweed.

First things first. Seaweed needs to fire its PR firm. Seaweed is, at best, an unfortunate name for a rather tasty, and undeniably nutritious vegetable. Yes, it comes from the sea, but a weed? I think not. What is a weed, anyway? It’s nothing more than a plant doing its best to survive in a location that some human doesn’t approve of.

We eat animals from the sea all the time. But there seems to be a conspiracy to discriminate against plants that grow below the waterline. These aren’t weeds. They’re vegetables. And very healthful ones, at that.

Bags of this stuff sell for less than a dollar on Argyle St. and the surrounding neighborhood, and you can get several meals’ side dishes out of a single package. And because the seaweed is dried, it’ll last a long time in the pantry – no need to use up precious refrigerator or freezer space. Get other fresh veggies when they’re in season and locally available; use these at other times of the year, or when you’re out of fresh stuff.

So, in my continuing exploration of seaweed, I pulled out the same combination of sea vegetables that I used last night (probably hijiki, wakame, and arame, although not all the packages were labeled by variety), with slightly smaller quantities (last night’s was a bit much for one serving). And to stick to the semi-Asian theme, I decided to make it with rice.

Basic Ingredients: three seaweeds, mushrooms, chiles

Black Rice (labeled Gao Nep Than):


Nontraditional seaweed salad
• 2.5 oz. (by weight) assorted dried seaweeds, rinsed
• a handful of dried mushrooms (optional – but as long as you’re rehydrating dried things, why not?)
• a few small dried chile peppers (from my garden last year, also optional)
• an allium, such as garlic, chives, or chopped onion, also optional (I used 1/2 a medium yellow onion)

• 1/3 cup Black rice

For the dressing:
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp grated ginger

I topped it with a grilled piece of calamari steak (about 4 oz.)

Method:
Soak seaweed (and optional mushrooms and chiles) in warm water , for at least 10 minutes (longer won’t hurt). After they’re softened, full leaf seaweed will need to be chiffonaded, at least roughly.

Optionally, once they’re soft, sautee in a little neutral oil in a seasoned cast iron or non-stick pan – adds texture. Plate with the rice and onion, sprinkle with the dressing,

Frankly, the black rice with the dark color of the seaweed doesn’t make for an especially appealing-looking dish. Had to throw a couple more Johnny-Jump-Up blossoms. But it was tasty and healthy. Next time I might just use regular brown rice for the color contrast.

Makes two servings.

billdaley wrote:Thanks for your story. It's perfect ... exactly what I'm after. Real people, real lives.

Thanks for confirming that I'm a real person. I sometimes feel like I'm a figment of my own imagination.

If there's such a thing as a mecca for seaweed lovers, it's in South Korea.

At the recent international seaweed expo in the small fishing town of Wando in southwestern Korea there was plenty of the slimy stuff to eat, spread on one's body or even use as a fuel for cars.

One of the biggest draws was a kiosk for sea mustard-infused green ice cream, topped with extra helpings of dried kelp.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/seaweed- ... 1410748201