How to cook dried seaweed?

Different types of seaweed are widely used in Asian cuisine, so the question of how to cook seaweed and wakame seaweed often worries lovers of Japanese cuisine. Today we will be happy to tell you about all the subtleties!

Sea cabbage preparation

How are seaweed and wakame made? Suitable algae are collected by hand or with the help of special equipment, after which they must be immediately dried or preserved – due to the high moisture content, they spoil very quickly. Because of this, seaweed is sold dried, so before cooking it must be processed to restore its shape and color. Most often, they are soaked for a certain time, which we will write about below.

• How to cook seaweed:

The kelp is soaked for about 3 hours, pouring warm water in a ratio of 1:20. Before that, it is better to cut dry leaves into portions, as their volume increases 13 times. Swollen algae are washed and boiled for several minutes, after which they are ready for consumption.

• How to prepare wakame:

Algae are poured with warm water or broth in a ratio of 1:10 for about a quarter of an hour, after which they are immersed in very cold water, you can even with ice cubes – this is how they keep their bright emerald color. They swell, increasing in size by 4-5 times, and become soft, slightly slippery, retaining their crunch.

What can be cooked from dried seaweed?

There are many options for preparing these products. We will share with you the best, tested in practice!

How to cook kelp:

• Dry crushed algae is used as a substitute for salt in soups and side dishes.
• It makes delicious salads in combination with vegetables, mushrooms, eggs, cheese and various spices.
• Sea cabbage is stewed with vegetables to serve as a side dish to meat or fish. It is often added to dishes made from beans or other legumes so that they are better digested.
• Many traditional Asian soups are prepared on the basis of kelp broth.
• These algae are often used to prepare desserts – marshmallows, jam, marmalade, which include pectin.

How to cook wakame:

• Andthey make excellent dishes for raw food eaters: pates, Chuko salad, vegetable salads with nuts, tofu, sesame and various spices.
• These algae are suitable for vegans and vegetarians – they are a great substitutet fish in various salads, complement noodles, add an original taste to rice, if you add them during cooking, they will make vegetable stew more interesting.
• Broth prepared and of these algae, will be an excellent basis for many oriental soups.

The benefits of kelp algae

Cooking sea cabbage at least several times a week is a great contribution to your health, because it has such useful properties:

• Improves digestion, helps to cleanse the bodyin and weight loss;
• Saturates the body with iodine, provides prevention of thyroid diseaseslikegland;
• Helps reduce the level of “bad cholesterol”, strengthens blood vessels, prevents the appearance of atherosclerosis;
• I will improvethe condition of the skin.

Wakame is also very useful for the body:

• Improve the condition of the cardiovascular system;
• Due to the high content of calcium, they have a beneficial effect on the condition of the bones;
• Improve hormonal balance;
• Help normalize weight;