Making Nutritious Meals with Seaweed

Dec 29

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Making Nutritious Meals with Seaweed
Along the shores of the world’s oceans, edible seaweed fronds float on the water’s surface supporting vast and diverse ecosystems. While some species of seaweeds are free-floating in the open ocean, such as sargassum in the Sargassum Sea, most seaweeds anchor themselves with holdfasts to rocks on the coast. Sonoko Sakai, author of Japanese Home Cooking, describes how wild seaweed harvesters conscientiously cut the seaweed they select, rinse it in the ocean, and leave the seaweed holdfasts in place so they can regenerate (Sakai, 2019, p. 41). Among the hundreds of different kinds of seaweeds that grow on the shore, only a few edible species are widely known. These include, for example, arame, dulse, hijiki, kombu, nori, and wakame. Seaweeds have an abundance of nutrients. They are especially plentiful in minerals. Consuming seaweeds helps lower blood pressure and promote healthy skin, nails, and hair. Seaweed gel-like properties are decongestants and demulcents, soothing the bronchial tubes of the respiratory system.

Like edible plants and mushrooms, seaweeds contain complex carbohydrates which are mostly polysaccharides. Seaweed polysaccharides are unique. They include, for example: alginate, carrageenan, and laminarin. People who live near the sea, consuming seaweeds for many years, possess probiotic bacteria that feed on seaweed in their microbiome (e.g., Bacteroidetes species, firmicutes, and actinobacteria). When we consume the bacteria adhered to the seaweed, they continue to feed on the seaweed in our digestive tract. The bacteria’s enzymes, along with our digestive enzymes, break down the seaweed polysaccharides and other constituents. This makes the seaweed nutrients available for our nourishment.

Many people, unaccustomed to eating seaweed, have difficulty digesting the polysaccharides that are fundamentally different than other foods we eat. Little is known about how long it takes for seaweed probiotic bacteria to colonize the human digestive track. If you are new to eating meals that contain seaweeds, you may want to introduce seaweeds gradually to give the seaweed bacteria and your digestive system time to adjust. Simmering seaweeds at low temperatures for a long period of time can help break down the long-chain, polysaccharides found in seaweeds. However, bacteria, in general, are unable to survive temperatures above 118 degrees Fahrenheit. Thus, consuming a combination of raw (uncooked) seaweeds, that have live probiotic bacteria, and cooked seaweeds may be the way to optimize your digestion of seaweed.

Although seaweeds are wet when they are harvested, they are typically purchased dried. Seaweeds can easily be rehydrated by soaking them in filtered or spring water. Absorbing water, they may double or triple in size. In her book, Sakai recommends eating seaweeds right after they have been rehydrated. She offers cooking advice, stating that “For salads and stir-fries, I use wakame and dulse, preferable fresh; these seaweeds can also be roasted and crumbled into furikake on various dishes” (Sakai, 2019, p. 35). Furikake is a common Japanese dish made with dried fish, sesame seeds, chopped seaweed, and sea salt.

Arame comes in fine strips. It has a mild taste. After soaking it for 10 to 15 minutes, arame can be chopped raw into small pieces and put in a salad. It is delicious, too, when sautéed for 20 minutes with onions and carrots. Hijiki is a thicker seaweed. It needs to be simmered for 45 minutes to an hour before it softens. Then you can chop it and add it to soups. Kombu, one of the thickest seaweeds, entails soaking overnight. Dashi, made of Bonito flakes (skipjack tuna) and kombu seaweed, is foundational to many Japanese soups (Sakai, 2019, p. 23). Nori is typically purchased in sheets. It can be rolled to make sushi or other food wraps. To make nori crispier, place it briefly in the oven at 300 degrees. Once toasted more, nori can be easily crunched into flakes and added to salads, dressings, sauces, soups, stews, or casseroles. Eden Foods, the oldest natural and organic food company in North America, provides quality seaweeds that have been hand-harvested from environmentally protected seas (Ref.: https://www.edenfoods.com/faqs/view.php?categories_id=8#faq62).

References
Sakai, S. (2019). Japanese Home Cooking: Simple Meals, Authentic Flavors. Boulder, CO: Roost Books. Sonoko Sakai

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