Squeezing excess water from seaweed
I was making seaweed salad for the first time tonight and had just finished soaking my wakame for some time. I rinsed it and put it in a colander, but just couldn't squeeze out very much water. The pieces stuck to my hands, squished, and made gurgling noises; but for the most part remained sopping wet, and later tasted completely waterlogged. Am I missing something here? I know there's a way to get water out because I've tasted wonderfully light and refreshing seaweed salad before, but my wakame (even hours later) is just a slimy bowl of sopping seaweed. Thanks!
Best Answer
Most guides I've seen recommend a salad spinner after the initial draining/squeezing. I've never had trouble with that method.
Failing that, I guess you could blot or squeeze it with paper towels; that's what I used to do with lettuce before I had a spinner, and it works... sort of... but not as well, and you'll go through a lot of paper towels that way.
Given that we are talking about seaweed here, I wouldn't try to get it perfectly dry. Restaurants actually use specialized (and very expensive) automatic "vegetable dryers" that I believe operate on a similar concept as a clothes dryer. You're not going to get that kind of result at home. Just squeeze or spin-dry enough to get it past the "sopping" stage.
It's also possible that you soaked it too long. More than a few minutes and it will just turn to mush, which may have been your problem. I've seen at least one ridiculous recipe for seaweed salad calling for a 5-minute rinse and a 15+ minute soak, which is pretty much guaranteed to give you slime.
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Quick Answer about "Squeezing excess water from seaweed"
To use wakame in salads, rehydrate the amount you need in enough cold water to cover the top of the seaweed by half an inch. Once fully expanded, drain in a fine mesh sieve or colander, making sure to press on the seaweed to squeeze any excess water out. If using in a soup, no rehydration is required.How long should you soak seaweed?
Most types of dried seaweed will rehydrate in five to 10 minutes. Soak it for closer to five minutes to retain a little bite, or 10 minutes if you like it to be more tender. Some types of seaweed need longer than 10 minutes to rehydrate. Laver, for example, might need as long as an hour.Does seaweed soak up water?
Seaweeds absorb water and nutrients in all of their tissues. Land plants have complex systems of roots, specialized tissues, and leaves that help them move water and nutrients around their body. Seaweeds are typically supported by the water they live in. Land plants need structures to help hold them up against gravity.How do you blanch seaweed?
Get a large pot of water boiling. Boil the sea beans for 1 minute and then plunge into a bowl of ice water. Boil any seaweed you want to blanch (see post above) for 15 seconds, then plunge into the ice water.How do you make seaweed not slimy?
Make sure you rinse seaweed with a bit of salt water. This prevents it from getting too slimy!Seaweed absorbing water
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