Ocean Forward
“All we do here is take the water out of stuff and then put it back in.” Of course that’s not all we do in the kitchen. But the process of drying and rehydrating ingredients is about more than just preservation and storage: it’s crucial for concentrating flavors to create umami.
Seaweed can be a bit…ocean forward (a wonderful euphemism Mac encountered at a fancy sushi bar to describe a particularly fishy fish). Seaweed itself is not an appetizing moniker. When I hear the word kelp, I still think of Ursula’s trapped souls from the Little Mermaid.
Don’t fear. This is where the drying process comes in. Drying seaweed concentrates flavor and imparts a savory complexity. Add a little soy sauce and you’ve got the foundation for an entire aisle of snacks in any Tokyo grocery store.
Nori. Sheets of dried seaweed for rolling sushi and conveying onigiri. Think of it as edible wrapping paper. Grab some this week so you can make our spicy tuna roll when it drops on Friday. If you’ve never had onigiri, locate some immediately. A rice ball filled with anything from teriyaki chicken to pickled plum to Spam, onigiri is the ultimate to-go food. If you’re seaweed hesitant, nori snacks from the supermarket are a great gateway - a savory, crispy treat.
Kombu. Long sheets of kelp that are dried and then used to make dashi - the foundational broth of Japanese cuisine. Studying the dashi flavor extraction is what first led to the discovery of umami as the fifth taste. Dashi is very simple to make. Use it to make miso soup or provide a subtle twist to a butternut squash puree (or almost any vegetable soup).
Wakame. Sold in little bags of what looks like dark green confetti. Wakame, lightly sweet and subtly toothy, provides texture. It’s a classic component of miso soup and the foundation of seaweed salad. It plays a role similar to cucumber. Dress it with rice vinegar and sesame.
Dulse. A red seaweed native to the northern Pacific and Atlantic coasts, dulse is a great flavor booster available fresh here in the PNW. We’ve dried it to make togarashi flakes and cooked it fresh with brown butter and lemon to serve with petrale sole.
We did try to ferment dulse one time, and it smelled like the bottom of a boat (and not in a good way). Just in case you were feeling bad about your last failed culinary experiment.
We’re glad you’re cooking with us.
Cheers,
Sten and Mac
Chef Snacks
Cooking Tip
Use your oven as a food dehydrator. If your oven has a setting for Keep Warm, that’s perfect. Otherwise, dial down the heat as low as it goes, turn on the fan, and crack the door. You can dry just about anything this way, from dulse to fruit. Bonus, it helps keep your apartment toasty in the winter months.
