From Jeff Cox

People who eat a lot of processed foods unknowingly eat seaweed all the time in the form of fillers and extenders and texturizers such as agars, carrageenans, and alginates—all seaweed extracts. But many varieties of whole seaweed—either fresh or dried—form a staple of a healthy organic diet and can be used in endless ways, from a seasoning to a main ingredient.

Seaweed are marine algae that grow in the tidal zones or shallow ocean water where sunlight can penetrate. Although they’re simple organisms, loosely classified as plants, there are 6,000 red, 2,000 brown, and 1,200 green species. They’re found around the world in salt water, and none is known to be poisonous.

Seaweed is collected in parts of the world where the water is pure. In addition to the bays of northern Japan, seaweed is collected from the wild along the coast of northern California up into Washington, on the east coast along Maine and the Canadian Maritimes, and in Europe along the coast of Ireland and up into Scandinavia.

The Organic Factor
In addition to its healthy culinary uses, seaweed provides a range of agricultural benefits to the organic gardener. Organic gardeners and farmers who live near the ocean can use salt hay—the marsh grasses that grow in tidal swamps—as easy-to-harvest mulch, and seaweed mixed with salt hay makes mineral-rich compost that supplies trace elements in abundance to the garden.

Seaweed is used to make liquid extracts that inland growers can apply to the leaves of their fruits and vegetables (in a technique called foliar feeding); the nutrients are absorbed through the leaves. These extracts are also used as a drench to the plants’ roots. Because seaweed grows in seawater filled with minerals, it can return elements to the soil that may have been leached out by acid rain or farmed out over years of soil abuse by conventional farmers. Everything does, finally, return to the sea, and the use of seaweed in organic culture is a way of recycling scarce nutrients back to crops so they can grow healthy tissues.

We then become beneficiaries of this nutrient recycling when we eat these organic foods grown in such a garden, with their panoply of nutrients supplied by the sea.

Nutrition
The Japanese have long incorporated seaweed in their diet—and they have notably good health to show for it.

Scientists say that the blood in our bodies has about the same mineral and salt content as the primordial seawater out from which our ancestral life forms crawled to begin life on land. Consuming seaweed allows our blood to be replete with the minerals we need for optimal health. They are the oldest family of plants on earth.

Seaweed may also help protect us against one of the newest dangers on earth—radioactivity. Kelp, for instance, contains iodine-127. This beneficial isotope of iodine floods the thyroid gland, where iodine accumulates. This prevents the body from absorbing radioactive iodine-131, which is released into the atmosphere during so-called normal operations of nuclear power plants and weapons facilities. Kelp also contains sodium alginate, which can bind with radioactive strontium-90 and cesium-137, as well as heavy metals, and aid the body in excreting them.

Kelp
Also commonly known by its Japanese name kombu, this is probably the most familiar seaweed to most people. Roasted, dried, and ground into flakes, it’s used as a seasoning and salt substitute. But it can also be purchased as a dried whole vegetable to add to soups and other vegetable dishes. Kelp is gathered in Japan and on the coast of Mendocino, California, where it’s dried in the sun. Kelp’s most common and important use is in the preparation of dashi, the Japanese basic stock for soups, stews, and sauces. Soak a 6-inch piece of kombu in 4 cups of water for 2 hours, then slowly bring to a boil. Just before the water boils, remove the kelp from the water, turn off the heat, and let the broth cool. The dashi can be used as a delicious vegetarian broth in Japanese and other dishes.

Kelp is also good when sliced and used as an ingredient in soups, stews, and vegetable and bean dishes. The Japanese commonly use kelp to enhance the flavor of the brine that’s used to marinate pickles. Sometimes, the kelp itself is one of the ingredients to be pickled.

According to my friend John Lewallen, who operates the Mendocino Sea Vegetable Company, kelp can be simmered along with other foods to impart its flavor. Once simmered, it can be cut in strips and used in a wide variety of vegetable dishes. John suggests stirring a few strips of dried kelp in a pot of rice as it’s cooking (lay a sheet of kelp underneath the rice, then cook as you normally would). “Kelp does magic things with all types of beans,” he says, “speeding cooking time, softening the beans, and thickening the broth. Kelp strips in beans become translucent, tender, and tasty.” A 4- to 6-inch-long strip of dried kelp is sufficient for one pound of beans.

Sea whip fronds are another form of kelp and the most tender of all sea vegetables; they’re sweet and salty, good raw and in soups.

Nori
This black seaweed—used to wrap sushi—is often bought in sheets, but the best nori is dried in leaf form. It can be used as is, lightly roasted, or even fried as tempura. Roasted nori can be crumbled over grains and vegetables as a condiment. (To roast nori, place on a dry skillet on medium heat for 15 seconds on a side.) It’s nutritious: about one-third pure protein.

Dulse
Another common seaweed is dulse. The best of these is a red algae variety labeled Grand Manan, which comes from an island of that name in the North Atlantic. Shaped like the palm of a hand, it has the texture of thin rubber; both the amount of branching and size (ranging from 5 to 16 inches) vary. Growing on rocks, mollusks, or larger seaweeds, dulse attaches by means of disks or rhizomes. It is commonly dried and eaten raw by North Atlantic fishers; the flavor becomes evident after prolonged chewing. Dulse is eaten also with fish and butter, boiled with milk and rye flour, or used as a relish.

The gelatinous substance contained in dulse is a thickening agent and imparts a reddish color to the food with which it is mixed. It’s zesty dried or cooked, with an underlying sweetness. Dulse from the west coast of North America is fiercely salty and powerful. Finely chopped dulse becomes a multifaceted condiment used in place of salt. Its flavor accents eggs, vegetables, rice, casseroles, chowders, and—especially—potatoes. It can be used on pizzas like anchovies and in omelets like bacon. Cooked in a soup, dulse gradually softens and disintegrates into the liquid, flavoring it.

Other Seaweed

Arame is a mild seaweed and cooks in about half the time of hiziki (below). Both hiziki and arame are Japanese imports and fairly easy to find at natural food stores.

Bladderwrack, known as rockweed on the East Coast, is used as a healing tea and also in soups. At Maine clambakes, its used to steam lobsters and steamer clams.

Grapestone is a seaweed resembling a deep red, exotic mushroom; it’s excellent in stir-fries.

Hiziki is exceptionally nutritious—full of trace minerals and known as a blood strengthener. It has a strong flavor and sturdy texture, and it takes about 10 minutes to cook.

Sea lettuce is called ao nori by the Japanese and is a bright green seaweed used as a condiment.

Sea palm fronds are unique to the Pacific Northwest, from San Francisco to Vancouver, British Columbia. They’re used raw, sautéed, and in soups and salads.

Wakame is a sweet, relatively tender seaweed that’s a standard addition to miso soup. It has an appealingly clean, salt-air aroma. Use it in soups, stir fries, or in salads.

Uses
Seaweed is not much used in American cooking, but it’s an important part of the diet in Japan, in maritime Ireland and Scotland, and in Iceland, Norway, France, and eastern Canada. Because of its nutritive value, seaweed has probably made more inroads into organic and macrobiotic kitchens than the kitchens of most other segments of American society, save for those of Japanese Americans and Japanese restaurants. Once you start to use seaweed, however, you begin to wonder how you got along without it. It imparts a true flavor of the sea to everything from soup bases to omelets.
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Wakame Organic Orange Salad Recipe

Serves 3 to 4

This recipe is from Simone Parris, a private chef, who cooks for celebrities in the Los Angeles area. The celebs like to stay slim and healthy, and her dishes help them achieve both goals. This salad combines the sweet flavor of cucumbers and oranges with a salty matrix of seaweed and soy sauce and adds a spicy kick from the ginger and cayenne.

1 organic slicing cucumber
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon wakame flakes (purchased precut)
2 medium organic oranges
¼ cup raw sesame seeds
1 piece fresh organic ginger, about the size of your thumb
1 teaspoon mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine) or maple syrup
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons unseasoned rice vinegar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
Dash of ground cayenne
Freshly ground black pepper
2 organic scallions, chopped fine

1. Peel strips down the length of the cucumber, slice it in half lengthwise, then cut in half-rounds, one-eighth inch thick. Place the cucumbers in a bowl with the sea salt and combine them. Place a plate on top of the cucumbers and a weight, such as a gallon jug of water, on the plate, and let sit for 20 minutes. This procedure takes some of the water from the cucumbers and breaks down cell walls, making them easier to digest.

2. Soak the wakame flakes in enough water to cover until they’re soft, about 10 minutes, then squeeze out and discard the water.

3. With a sharp knife, cut the tops and bottoms from the oranges deeply enough to remove the white, then do the same all around the sides of the oranges. When all the white is removed, slice the orange into quarters, remove any seeds and the white core, and cut the quarters into ½-inch pieces.

4. Wash the sesame seeds in a fine mesh strainer and let drain. Heat a small skillet over medium heat, add the sesame seeds, and toast, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon. If they start jumping around, the heat is too high. When you can easily crush a seed between your thumb and ring finger, the seeds are done. Be careful not to overcook. As soon as they’re done, transfer them to a small bowl.

5. Grate the ginger until you have 1 heaping tablespoon; press the gratings by placing them in a soup spoon and pressing out the juice into a small dish with the back of a second spoon. You should extract about 1 teaspoon of juice.

6. Prepare the dressing by whisking together the ginger juice, mirin, soy sauce, vinegar, toasted sesame oil, cayenne, and black pepper.

7. Rinse and gently squeeze liquid out of the cucmbers and combine them with the oranges and wakame in a medium bowl. Toss with the dressing and garnish the top with a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds and scallions.
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See also Jeff’s The Organic Food Shoppers Guide
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Jeff Cox is author of The Organic Cook’s Bible and The Organic Food Shopper’s Guide, and numerous other cooking, gardening, and wine books, and lives in Sonoma County, California.
Image Credits: Seaweed Farmer © Rosslyn Tebbutt | Dreamstime.com, Nori © Shariff Che’ Lah | Dreamstime.com
OrganicToBe.org | OrganicToGo.com
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