Yaki Nori

Small aquatic plants (called nori, in Japanese) are harvested, rinsed, chopped, and mashed into a paste that is then spread across bamboo mats and dried. This produces rectangular sheets of seaweed, also called nori, about 7 x 8 inches in size. Toasting the sheets improves the flavor of the seaweed. The generic name for already toasted sheets of seaweed is yaki nori.

Some packages may be labeled yaki-zushi nori because these dark, crisp sheets are used primarily at the sushi bar. Some of these sheets are precut into strips.