Seaweed

Used in Korean cooking for centuries, seaweed has a high vitamin and protein content. There are three kinds of seaweed used: kelp, nori and miyuk. Dried kelp, known as dashikonbu in Japanese or dahima in Korean, can be found in any Asian store, and has a rich sea flavour which is perfectly suited to making soup stock and salads. Kelp should always be soaked in water before being used in cooking. Nori is a dried layer of seaweed, and is the Japanese term for the popular edible seaweed known as kim in Korea. It has a colour somewhere between dark blue and black, and is sold dried in small, very thin sheets. It has a crisp texture and salty flavour with a distinctly toasty aroma and is used to make the rice rolls known as maki in Japan. Miyuk is an edible seaweed, known as wakame in Japan. It is much softer than kelp, and has a range of vitamins that promote good circulation. A popular Korean soup, traditionally served at birthday celebrations, is made from miyuk.