Hijiki

Until I introduced this black-colored sea vegetable to Westerners in my Japanese cooking classes, I did not realize that the color of food matters in determining whether or not a food is appetizing. It is true that I lose my appetite when I see something—a sweet or a drink— that is obviously artificially colored and looks too red, yellow, pink, or blue. However, I never expected that a food that is naturally black in color could be somewhat threatening to people who are not familiar with black food. I tried to learn if there are any Western foods that are black. Yes, there are. Risotto or spaghetti with squid and squid ink is one. Aside from the squid-ink dishes, there are black olives, black caviar, black truffles, and licorice candy. If you were not raised to appreciate these ingredients, please try to conquer your bias, if you have any, and make hijiki sea vegetable a delicious and nutritious addition to your daily diet.