The most popular products made from seaweed and how to use

Seaweed, also known as kelp, usually lives in coral reefs, rocky beaches in salt and brackish water environments. Seaweed is adapted even to deep waters with the condition that the sun still shines so that the seaweed can photosynthesize. Hearing the name "seaweed", people think of very Japanese and Korean dishes, but in fact, seaweed has long been associated with the culinary culture of Vietnamese people through familiar dishes, such as Universal fiber in ginseng tonic.

Seaweed contains a lot of fiber, which is especially good for the digestive tract, laxative, promotes intestinal health, and also helps reduce cholesterol and blood sugar levels. Although it is a nutrient-rich food, due to its characteristic fishy taste, not everyone can eat it.

       The same called "seaweed" but there are many different shapes, There are types of seaweed used to cook soup, some types of kimbap, some can cook soup, cook tea, mix raw salad. If you can't distinguish to buy and process properly, please refer to the following article to no longer be confused with them.

1. Seagrapes

Grape seaweed is a type of seaweed shaped like a bunch of grapes, associated with the beautiful name "green caviar". Grape seaweed is a rare and precious seaweed that contains an incredible amount of nutrients compared to common vegetables. Grape seaweed is believed to have been introduced to Vietnam by the Japanese, and has now become popular in the central seas of our country.

With fresh grape seaweed, you just need to wash it and then soak it in a bowl of ice water to make the seaweed crispy and reduce the natural fishy smell

With raisin seaweed, you put the seaweed in a bowl of filtered water to soak, then take it out and let it soak in a bowl of ice cold water for a few minutes.

When you eat where you soak it, then the seaweed will be crispy and more delicious.

Rong can be eaten directly, dipped with roasted sesame sauce, soy sauce, mustard to increase flavor, or mixed with seafood shrimp, squid eaten as a salad.

2. Laver Seaweed Nori

This is a type of thin-leaf seaweed used to roll rice. After preliminary processing, seaweed will be rolled, dried and cut into small pieces. The piece of seaweed leaf must be as thin as a paper, tough enough to be able to wrap the rice tightly without breaking.

Laver seaweed is often used to make rice balls, sushi, kimpap

Or tear it up and eat it directly with rice or instant noodles. Leaf seaweed can also be cut into small pieces, fried or crispy, then shaken with cheese and eaten as a snack.

In particular, following the recent trend, coniferous seaweed is used as a raw material for processing seaweed with seeds. Seaweed leaves are spread with a sauce consisting of a mixture of sugar water, soy sauce, and sesame oil, then spread the nuts (cashew, sliced almonds, zucchini), then clamped and grilled.

You can make your own Nutritious Seaweed at home with just 5 steps by following Mailey's instructions here or buying Mailey's ready-made goods.

3. Dried seaweed used to cook soup

Seaweed soup has been a popular dish in Japanese and Korean family meals for a long time and is gradually becoming familiar to Vietnamese people. Seaweed of this type is often sold in markets and supermarkets in dried form, only needs to be soaked, washed, and processed.

Seaweed can be cooked with shrimp, minced pork, minced beef, crab, pork ribs, tofu or chicken eggs, enoki mushrooms or other mushrooms. The seaweed is very easy to cook, so just wait for the water to boil and then turn off the stove, if it doesn't cook for a long time, it will lose its taste. Soaked dried seaweed expands a lot, 10g is enough for 1-2 users, so please estimate to avoid cooking too much.

Another way to cook is to make garlic seaweed. To make garlic-burnt seaweed, you need to buy seaweed in the form of large cakes, tear it up, marinate it with spices to taste and then roast it evenly on a pan with low heat.

You can refer to how to make Garlic Seaweed here. Or if you find it difficult to make your own, you can buy Mailey's extremely delicious Garlic Burnt Seaweed here.

4. Fat Choy

Toc Tien is not really a "seaweed" because it is a type of freshwater seaweed. Fairy hair has the form of thin filaments, often living in rivers and canals with slow flow, forming a large black patch like a bun.

Fairy hair seaweed, also known as paddle seaweed, is best known for its hair fairy soup. Chicken soup or pork brain crab soup cooked as usual, but just adding ingredients to hair fairy hair makes a difference. Fairy hair is best known through hair fairy soup. Chicken soup or pork brain crab soup is cooked as usual, but just adding ingredients of fairy hair makes a difference.

Toc Tien is also used to prepare shrimp and meat salad, chicken stewed with hair fairy, and pig's leg with hair fairy. The dishes made from fairy hair are very nutritious, have a cool taste, are easy to eat, and do not have a strong smell like other types of seaweed.

Fairy hair seaweed is usually pre-processed and sold in dried form. Buy dry fairy hair, you just need to wash it, then you can eat it raw or use it as a food ingredient. Like other dried seaweeds, fairy hair is very quick to cook, so it doesn't need to be cooked for too long.

5. Fresh Seaweed Chuka Wakame

Japanese seaweed has many types, but there are only 8 main types, of which Wakame seaweed is the most popular type since ancient times, delicious and has the highest nutritional content.

Chuka Wakame sold in Vietnam is a type of fresh seaweed, sliced and pre-mixed with spices, sold frozen. After defrosting, you can use it right away, you can mix the salad with seafood, add a little soy sauce, wasabi or roasted sesame sauce to enhance the taste. Chuka Wakame is a processed and censored product, so you can rest assured to use it right away.

One of the characteristics of fresh seaweed is that the smell of the sea remains quite a lot compared to processed dried seaweed, so if you don't like this taste, you should consider it.

6. Some other types of seaweed are popular in Vietnam

It can be mentioned that cartilage seaweed is a dish that is often processed into dishes such as ginseng soup, green bean soup with cartilage, chicken salad with cartilage. Cartilage seaweed has a relatively mild taste, crunchy and rough like cartilage tendons.

Next, it is impossible to mention the type of seaweed associated with many people's childhood memories, which is "common seaweed". Ready-to-use dried seaweed no longer has the fishy smell of the sea, so it is often brought to cook sweet dishes such as green bean soup, ginseng tea. However, it can also be creative to cook savory dishes, such as stir-fried with shrimp and meat, and soup.

Xuxa is quite a strange dish for urban people, but is a very familiar dish of the people in the central region. Xuxa is made from gold thread. Dried yellow seaweed after being soaked to bloom, wash off impurities, cook until dissolved, comb through a sieve and pour into molds to cool. Xu massage is natural, cool and cool, absolutely no chemicals.