In Asia there is a long culinary tradition of using seaweed for flavoring food, but how should you go about introducing this ingredient into your own cooking?
It is often said that "seaweed is the new kale". There is an abundance of greens under the surface of the seas which are both tasty and healthy and which flavor your food – not least the vegetarian kind – with precious umami.
Most people find the flavor of algae easy to like. It's a kind of fishiness combined with the freshness and greenness (we are aware that this is not a flavor, but maybe it ought to be) of vegetables. And algae of different kinds are becoming more and more common in ordinary food shops.
Seaweed as an ingredient for flavoring food goes back a long way in many Asian cuisines. Seaweeds like nori, kombu and wakame are commonly used, for example in the Japanese broth known as dashi. Here at PS we provide you with a small introduction to the art of using these ingredients in your own cooking:
