What kind of seaweed do I need for Japanese-style seaweed salad?
I've fallen in love with the seaweed salad from a local Japanese seafood buffet. What would be the most cost-effective way to obtain this kind of food in large quantities for regular eating? I would assume that making it fresh would be the best way.
As far as obtaining ingredients, I'm located on the east coast of the United States; so this isn't a native dish.
I'm also confused on the type of seaweed to look for. Google says that I'm looking for wakame seaweed but search results show many different varieties.
The specific type of seaweed salad I want appears to be "sesame seaweed salad".
Here is a photo of what I would like to make:
Best Answer
Because we don't do recipe requests around these parts, I'm going to treat this as an ingredient question.
Japanese markets (and some online merchants, including Amazon) often sell dried versions of the seaweed mix that many restaurants use. It'll be sold as kaiso salad or seaweed salad. Some versions are better than others; some contain a ton of dyes that make the salad look unnaturally neon to my eyes, although the taste and texture is similar. Such blends typically contain wakame and other seaweeds, including agar agar noodles, for example.
If not included in the package, you can make a simple dressing based on toasted sesame oil and Japanese vinegar, in roughly a 1:3 ratio, or use sesame oil and lemon juice (maybe 1:1-1:2 ratio since it's more acidic). You may want to include soy sauce or salt. This is loosely in the category of sunomono, so it doesn't typically contain emulsifiers like mustard, but if you find it hard to blend you can use a touch of mustard or something like lecithin or a stabilizer like xanthan gum.
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What seaweed is seaweed salad made from?
Wakame, a dark green, leafy seaweed is the most common type used for this salad. Mild-tasting arame and hijiki are also good choices. They can be bought at Asian grocery stores.What is Japanese seaweed salad made of?
Seaweed salad, or goma wakame in Japanese, is made with undaria pinnatifida, an edible seaweed used widely in Japanese cuisine. On paper, it's very nutritious: high in fibre and protein, 45 calories per 100g, plus calcium, iodine and lots of vitamins and minerals.What is Japanese dried seaweed called?
Nori, or dried laver, is perhaps the most familiar seaweed to people outside of Japan, as it is the variety used to make sushi rolls. Nori is almost always eaten dried, and is sold in sheets or strips for making sushi, wrapping onigiri (rice balls), and for eating plain as a snack.What type of seaweed is wakame?
Wakame, also known as sea mustard, is a dark green seaweed most often found in miso soup. It has a sweet taste, a silky smooth texture, and is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids. Kombu. Kombu is also a type of kelp and one of the most popular edible seaweeds in East Asia.SUPER CRUNCHY JAPANESE STYLE SEAWEED SALAD RECIPE!
More answers regarding what kind of seaweed do I need for Japanese-style seaweed salad?
Answer 2
I'm Japanese, and that actually looks more like the seaweed salad used more commonly by Koreans. It is eaten with a sesame-scented dressing. Where I live, Korean foods sold at the Asian store, such as seaweed, are cheaper than their Japanese counterpart. I think I saw this type of seaweed is sold in 500g packs in the fridge or freezer. More common to Japanese are kaiso-salad packs, which tend to be mixes of different types of seaweed (of different colours and textures-green, purple etc) and sold in much smaller packs that are either ready to eat, or dehydrated - and more expensive.
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