#adding stuff obscures the natural flavor in the beans

[inksandpensblog]

For the questionnaire: question 1 for NGD!Dark?

What is the character’s go-to drink order?

He didn't know a lot about drinks while he was on the pc.

Not even the difference between regular drip coffee and an Americano, or regular iced coffee and a cold brew. All he really knew was that dark roasts were stronger than medium ones, and he probably only knew that because noogai looked it up while Christmas shopping or something.

Orange would sketch various different beverages as art studies, and Dark was happy to taste-test them. He ended up liking many of them, as long as they weren't overly sweet.

(He did not like the unicorn frappe. That was...that was not a good day. He never figured out whether it was because Orange imagined it incorrectly, or because it's just inherently an abominable and abjectly-disgusting drink, and he's never been willing to try a real one and find out.)

Anytime he asked Orange for a drink, though, instead of just letting Orange make one for him because he felt like it, he'd usually just ask for a coffee or a water, nothing elaborate. Mostly because, if he was asking for a drink, then it wasn't for enjoyment; rather, it was because he'd be working on something for hours at a time and he wanted to stay awake or refreshed while doing so.

As for the extended timeline...

If he's drinking coffee because he needs to stay awake, he won't even look at the menu, he'll just look the poor barista in the eye and say he wants the strongest, darkest drink they have. He doesn't care what it is, or whether it's hot or cold, or how much it costs; though he gives the impression that he wants it made as quickly as possible. He leaves before the barista can count out his change and he's already downed half the coffee by the time the door swings closed behind him.

If he's drinking coffee for leisure, he'll have a brief look at the menu and casually order the first beverage with the word "latte" in its name that catches his interest.

This could be a regular latte, or a matcha/chai/turmeric latte, or any other variety; he's willing to be a little experimental about the taste, because what he really wants it for is so he can stare at the milk foam art while he drinks it. It...makes him feel nostalgic.

If it's a regular latte he usually has a specific request for the art, but if it's his first time trying the drink he'll let the artist surprise him with one of their routine designs.

If it ends up being a sweeter drink, he'll have some complimentary spices added to it (whether powdered, like matcha, or whole, like anise stars or cinnamon sticks). It's...always more spice than you'd expect a person to be able to handle.

Will tilt his cup 180 degrees to get every last dreg.

Waits until right before he leaves the venue to tip.

If he's a guest at someone's house, he's more likely to ask for some kind of fruity or herbal tea, or even cider, mulled or otherwise. Though if he knows there will be coffee he might bring along a bottle of Amaretto to leave at their house for next time they invite him over. (He'd wondered what Irish coffee tasted like back on the pc but figured it wouldn't be a great idea to drink one while he was attempting to figure out escape plans. When he finally got to try one it ended up being too sweet for his liking.)

[sixservefood]

10. US

America realizes how to dish nourishment that hits the spot.

America realizes how to dish nourishment that hits the spot.

Getty Images

This might be on the grounds that a large portion of the well known nourishments in the USA start in some other nation. The pizza cut is Italian. Fries are Belgium or Dutch. Cheeseburgers and sausages? Likely German. However, in the kitchens of the United States, they have been improved and added to, to become worldwide symbols for nourishment darlings all over.

Try not to disregard the homegrown American dishes either.

There's the customary stuff, for example, shellfish chowder, key lime pie and Cobb serving of mixed greens, and above all the locavore development of present day American nourishment began by Alice Waters. This advancement of eco-mindfulness in nourishment culture is continued today by Michelle Obama.

Yum

Cheeseburger - an ideal case of making beneficial things more noteworthy.

Chocolate chip treat - the world would be somewhat less tenable without this Americana great.

Moronic

All excessively handled nourishments, for example, Twinkies, Hostess cakes and KFC.

9. Mexico

Mmmmexico.

Mmmmexico.

Graciousness Denis Dervisevic/Creative Commons/Flickr

In the event that you were just permitted to eat the nourishment of one nation an incredible remainder, it is shrewd to make it Mexico. The cooking of the Mesoamerican nation has a smidgen of everything - you'll never get exhausted.

Among the enchiladas and the tacos and the helados and the quesadillas you'll discover the liveliness of Greek plates of mixed greens and the wealth of an Indian curry; the warmth of Thai nourishment and the utilization your-hands snackiness of tapas. It is likewise focal station for dietary superfoods. Such avocado, tomato, lime and garlic with beans and chocolates and chilies for sure, is rich with cancer prevention agents and great stimulating things. It doesn't taste sound however. It has an aftertaste like a party in your mouth.

Related substance

World's 50 best nourishments

Yum

Mole - old sauce made of bean stew peppers, flavors, chocolate and enchantment chants.

Tacos al minister - the spit-cook pork taco, a mix of the pre-and post-Colombian.

Tamales - an old Mayan nourishment of masa cooked in a leaf wrapping.

Stupid

Tostadas - fundamentally equivalent to a taco or burrito yet served in a fresh seared tortilla which breaks into pieces when you chomp into it. Difficult to eat.

8. Thailand

Open for over eight decades, old school Bangkok bistro On Lok Yun - situated at 72 Charoen Krung Road - is a neighborhood establishment. Video by Black Buddha

Road eats are a Thai fascination. Flip through a Thai cook book and you'll be unable to discover a fixing list that doesn't run a page long. The blend of such a large number of herbs and flavors in each dish produces complex flavors that some way or another meet up like symphonic music. Thais fit fiery, acrid, salty, sweet, chewy, crunchy and dangerous into one dish.

With impacts from China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar and an illustrious culinary convention, Thai cooking is the best of numerous universes. The best part about eating Thai nourishment in Thailand however is the accommodation. Sun, sea shore, administration with a grin and a plastic pack loaded with som cap - that is easy street.

Yum

Tom yam kung - a rave party for the mouth. The botanical notes of lemongrass, the natural galangal, freshness of kaffir lime leaves and the warmth of the chilies.

Massaman curry - a Thai curry with Islamic roots. Topped our rundown of the world's 50 most delectable nourishments.

Som cap - the well known green papaya plate of mixed greens is sharp, additional hot, sweet and salty. It's the best of Thai tastes.

Imbecilic

Pla som - an aged fish eaten uncooked is well known in Lawa and answered to be liable for bile conduit disease.

7. Greece

greek nourishment LOUISA GOULIAMAKI AFP Getty Images

Souvlaki is heaven on a stick.

LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Voyaging and eating in Greece feels like a lustrous magazine spread wake up, however without the Photoshopping. Like the blue oceans and white structures, the kalamata olives, feta cheddar, the vivid plates of mixed greens and dish meats are all postcard impeccable of course.

The mystery? Lashings of flickering olive oil. Endowment of the divine beings, olive oil is ostensibly Greece's most prominent fare, impacting the path individuals around the globe consider nourishment and dietary wellbeing. Eating in Greece is additionally a method for devouring history. A chomp of dolma or a gulp of lentil soup gives a little taste of life in antiquated Greece, when they were designed.

Yum

Olive oil - sprinkled on other nourishment, or absorbed by bread, is nearly as changed as wine in its flavors.

Spanakopita - makes spinach attractive with its feta cheddar blend and flaky cake spread.

Gyros - late-night alcoholic eating wouldn't be the equivalent without the pita bread sandwich of meal meat and tzatziki.

Stupid

Lachanorizo - fundamentally cabbage and onion cooked to death at that point blended in with rice. Filling, however one-dimensional.

6. India

Sweet and fiery chai tea.

Sweet and fiery chai tea.

NOAH SEELAM/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

At the point when a food utilizes flavors in such wealth that the meat and vegetables appear to be a bit of hindsight, you realize you're managing cooks committed to enhance. There are no principles for zest use as long as it brings about something heavenly. A similar zest can add get-up-and-go to exquisite and sweet dishes, or can in some cases be eaten all alone - fennel seed is appreciated as a breath-renewing stomach related guide toward the finish of suppers.

What's more, any nation that figures out how to make veggie lover nourishment taste reliably incredible absolutely merits a Nobel prize. The territorial assortments are immense. There's Goa's fish, there's the wazwan of Kashmir and there's the coconutty extravagance of Kerala.

Yum

Dal - India has figured out how to make bubbled lentils energizing.

Dosa - a flapjack loaded up with anything from cheddar to fiery vegetables, ideal for lunch or supper.

Chai - not every person likes espresso and not every person prefers plain tea, yet it's difficult to oppose chai.

Stupid

Balti chicken - an innovation for the British sense of taste, ought to presumably have ceased to exist with expansionism.

Related substance

The most scrumptious dishes in every district of India

5. Japan

We get together with Yumi Chiba to discover how she got one of the most eminent female sushi gourmet experts in Japan.

Japanese apply a similar exactness to their nourishment as they do to their designing. This is the spot that produced oppressive sushi experts and ramen menaces who make their staff and clients tremble with a glare.

You can get an extravagant multicourse kaiseki supper that presents the seasons in a spread of visual and culinary verse. Or on the other hand pull up a chair at a spinning sushi transport for a performance feast. Or on the other hand get something irregular and already obscure in your gastronomic vocabulary from the refrigerated racks of an accommodation store. It's difficult to eat severely in Japan.

Related substance

25 Japanese nourishments we love - from tempura to miso

Yum

Miso soup - features a portion of the principal kinds of Japanese nourishment, basic and healthy.

Sushi and sashimi - who realized that crude fish on rice could turn out to be so well known?

Tempura - the flawlessness of profound searing. Never oily, the player is slight and light like a fresh tissue.

Moronic

Fugu - would anything say anything is actually that scrumptious that it merits taking a chance with your life to eat? The noxious blowfish as of late murdered coffee shops in Egypt, yet is getting increasingly accessible in Japan.

4. Spain

Churros: batter meets chocolate.

Churros: batter meets chocolate.

Lauren Aloise

We should eat and drink, at that point rest, at that point labor for two hours, at that point eat and drink. Viva Espana, that nation whose libertine nourishment culture we as a whole furtively wish was our own. All that having a good time and tapas-eating, the negligible working, the 9 p.m. suppers, the interminable porron challenges - this is a culture dependent on, around and once in a while even inside nourishment.

The Spaniards gourmandize the manner in which they flamenco move, with unbridled enthusiasm. They chomp on snacks for the duration of the day with interims of enormous dinners. From the products of the Mediterranean Sea to the crown jewels of the Pyrenees, from the saffron and cumin notes of the Moors to the crazy atomic investigations of Ferran Adria, Spanish nourishment is immortal yet vanguard.

Yum

Jamon Iberico - an entire relieved ham pawn generally cut by clasping it down in a wooden stand like some medieval custom.

Churros - the world's best form of sweet seared mixture.

Moronic

Gazpacho - it's invigorating and all, however it's essentially fluid serving of mixed greens.

3. France

Crisply heated French loaves - delectable.

Crisply heated French loaves - delectable.

PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

In case you're one of those individuals who doesn't care to eat in light of the fact that "there's a whole other world to life than nourishment" - visit Paris. It's a city famous for its curmudgeonly occupants, however they all trust in the significance of good nourishment. Two-hour mid-day breaks for full dinners are de rigeur.

Whole fourteen day get-aways are focused on investigating mixes of wines and cheeses around the nation. Sensible cooking will astound the individuals who thought of the French as the world's nourishment braggarts (it is the origination of the Michelin Guide all things considered). Cassoulet, pot au feu, steak frites are brilliant when had in the correct bistro.

Yum

Escargot - credit the French for turning slimey, garden-staying nuisances into a delicacy. Gigantic regard for making them taste astonishing as well.

Macarons - like unicorn nourishment. Truth be told anything from a patisserie in France appears to have been summoned out of sugar, pixie dust and the supper wishes of young ladies.

Roll - the first and last thing that you'll need to eat in France. The main chomp is transformational; the last will be loaded with yearning.

Moronic

Foie gras - it has an aftertaste like 10,000 ducks broiled in margarine at that point decreased to a velvet pudding, yet some creature advocates censure the remorselessness of coercively feeding fowl to stuff their livers.

2. China

Peking duck - only one of numerous Chinese culinary joys.

Peking duck - only one of numerous Chinese culinary enjoyments.

GREG BAKER/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

The individuals who welcome each other with "Have you eaten at this point?" are seemingly the most nourishment fixated on the planet. Nourishment has been a structure o

[dispatchesfromthedome]

Winging It

It may come as a surprise to some of you, to find out that Your Own Personal Genius is a guy. I mean, you know I’m a licensed, practicing heterosexual. You know that I enjoy manly pursuits, like watching sporting events, obsessing over obscure automobiles like the 1931 Duesenberg J, and lusting after a variety of actresses from Maria Thayer (Stranger with Candy) to Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black). I also used to hunt, fish and change my car’s oil back in my younger days when my proclivities were less refined, and my neck was several shades redder.

So, I’m a man. But I’m also a guy. For all my cultured pursuits, from craft beer to Elizabethan theater, there is the overwhelming desire to drink Budweiser at minor league baseball games. I harbor such wide and varied interests as Egyptology and theoretical physics, but I have been known to watch shows like Game of Thrones and collect movies like Showgirls primarily for the nudity. Don’t judge me. I have been known to yell unkind things at hockey officials during games featuring my beloved hometown Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs of the Southern Professional Hockey League (which, counterintuitively, has teams in Peoria, Ill., and Evansville, Ind.). I will drink a beer straight from the can if the opportunity presents.

But I digress.

Nowhere is my inherent Guyness on display than when it comes to food. Of course, I have a cultured palate that appreciates such delicacies as mackerel sashimi and cabrito asado. But I also appreciate the simple Appalachian staples of my mountain upbringing, such as pinto beans and cornbread. I obsess over the minutiae of such passion-rousing foods as Barbecue and pizza. I love virtually all ethnic cuisines from around the globe, from Pakistan to Polynesia and beyond, but I’ve also got a soft spot in my heart for that humble sports bar staple, the chicken wing.

Hence the title.

Once considered the least useful part of the bird, the wing came into its own in 1964 at a joint called the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY, making it one of the few Yankee-centric foods to have earned such a place in my culinary lexicon. Teressa Bellissimo was the cook at the bar, and her son Dominic was tending bar when some of his friends came in after hours harboring serious appetites. Dominic asked his mother to prepare something for the occasion.

Thinking quickly, she took some chicken wings that had been destined for the stockpot and deep-fried them because everyone knows that deep-frying anything magically increases its desirability. She then further enhanced the wing’s palatability by slathering it in a sauce composed of hot sauce and butter, two things that further increase the deliciousness of almost anything they touch, rivaling only cheese as a universal modifier of all things edible. Which Bellissimo understood instinctively and added a dipping sauce of umami-laden bleu cheese salad dressing to create a nearly-perfect combination of flavors. The rest, as they say when their mouths aren’t full of the now-iconic Buffalo wing, is history.

From their beginnings as an impromptu bar snack to a billion-dollar industry, popping up in disparate eateries from homogenized sports bars (Buffalo Wild Wings, a.k.a. B-dubs) to mediocre pizza joints (all the major delivery franchises). Chains such as Wingstop and Hooter’s rely almost solely on the wing as the star of their menus. More fast casual chains than not offer some variant of the Buffalo wing, usually as an appetizer. My own hometown of Roanoke, Virginia, holds an annual Wing Festival, where both chains and local eateries vie for the title of best wings.

Like all American foods, nothing is sacred when it comes to the wing. The original Buffalo sauce is now just one of a myriad of flavors in which the wing is offered. Garlic Parmesan, mango habanero, Jamaican jerk, even the inexplicable mild variant, all vie for popular tastes. Wings themselves can be breaded (Hooters makes the best and most well-known version) or “naked,” baked instead of deep-fried. There is even something called a boneless wing, which isn’t a wing at all but rather a flavorless chicken nugget dressed up in wing sauce (shame on you pretenders).  

Another facet of the wing is its frequent use in ultra-spicy iterations and eating challenges. Usually called something like the Super Stupid-Hot Atomic Death Wing Challenge, an eatery makes the hottest wing they can imagine and challenge patrons to consume a number of them within an allotted time, without drinking anything, for a prize such as a T-shirt and getting their picture on the wall of conquerors. I personally have never had time for such contests, even though my love of spicy foods borders on the obsessive. My love of low culture only descends so far, and they never seem to have the T-shirt in my size.

Moving forward.

It may come as a surprise for you to discover that I bake my wings at home instead of frying or even grilling them. For one thing, I haven’t got a deep fryer. I don’t own one because, after a lifetime of battling my weight, I know that if I were able to deep fry anything I wanted I’d overuse the privilege and end up the star of a reality TV show My 600 lb. Genius. For another thing, I like wings a lot. And like anything I like a lot, I like a lot of it. It’s not unusual for me to eat upwards of 20 wings as a game time snack for a special sporting event like the Super Bowl or the NCAA wrestling championships. Deep-frying that many wings in a tiny home fryer would take f-o-r-e-v-e-r. I don’t have that kind of time, I’ve got important Genius stuff to do.  

Seriously.

I cut my wings apart in the traditional fashion, separating the drumette from the rest of the wing. Unlike most places, though, I leave the wing tip on. I believe it makes for a tastier wing, even though you don’t eat it, and it makes the whole thing easier to hold while you’re going after the sometimes-challenging meat. I toss my wings in flour before baking, just to hold in the moisture and make it easier for the sauce to stick, but I don’t really bread the wing like Hooter’s does. As you’ve probably surmised, I like the wings at Hooter’s. Sure, the waitresses are comely, and their attire is appealing, but honestly, I’d go to Hooter’s even if they wore snow suits and looked like the Michelin Man.

As for sauce, many of you know my odd predilection for all sorts of condiments, from hot sauce to salad dressing. It would make sense, then, that I would have an impressive collection of wing sauces, as well. But I don’t. Other than a spicy garlic sauce, like that offered by B-dubs, I tend to stick with the tried and true. The original wing sauce was a mix of Frank’s cayenne pepper hot sauce and butter. Frank’s currently offers a pre-mixed version of this sauce, and Southern favorite Texas Pete makes a similar product. I am fine with either. I’ve not yet tried to make my own wing sauce, using any one of my many hot sauces and a higher-fat European style butter, but who knows when I might take a notion and give it a go.

Why all the fuss over the smallest piece of chicken with the least amount of meat on it? Part of it has to do with the primal nature of eating meat off the bone, which returns us to our hunter-gathered roots Then, there is the fact that wings are little flavor bombs that deliver a lot of taste in a small package, which also allows you to eat a lot of them over a longer period of time. This fact makes them perfect snacks for events that don’t have a predetermined time limit, like sports. Sure, a football game is timed to last one hour with a fifteen-minute halftime, but in reality, a game lasts on average between 3 to 3 ½ hours. It wouldn’t be practical to have a meal last that long without a tremendous amount of work going into it. So, snacks it is, which is an easier way to allow everyone to graze throughout the length of the contest. I have long felt that opera would be more popular in this country if people were allowed to drink beer and eat chicken wings throughout the duration.

Be that as it may.

From their modest beginnings as an impromptu bar snack to a multimillion-dollar industry, chicken wings have earned their hallowed place among American snack foods right alongside potato chips, popcorn, nachos, and whatever the hell Funyuns are. And, in my opinion, make them an indelible part of the Good Life.

Till next time, kids, exit to your right and enjoy the rest of Tumblr.

[shareyoursmile]

A Seaweed Primer: How to Use Kelp, Nori, Wakame, a...

New Post has been published on https://bestcook.makecookingfun.org/seaweed-primer-use-kelp-nori-wakame/

A Seaweed Primer: How to Use Kelp, Nori, Wakame, a...

amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0"; amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "megumi09-20"; amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "search"; amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon"; amzn_assoc_region = "US"; amzn_assoc_title = "Shop Related Products"; amzn_assoc_default_search_phrase = "cooking"; amzn_assoc_default_category = "Kitchen"; amzn_assoc_linkid = "51fe4d035c7af8dc5928e6f5e5b79c4e"; amzn_assoc_default_browse_node = "284507"; amzn_assoc_rows = "4"; amzn_assoc_design = "text_links";

[Photographs: Vicky Wasik]

Dr. Prannie Rhatigan stood in my kitchen contemplating the emerald-green whirlpool of smoothie in my blender. Over the din of the machine, Ireland’s leading seaweed expert waxed poetic about the deliciousness of dulse as she fed the burgundy-colored dried strands, along with spinach and fruit, into the machine. Dulse was new to me, so I paid close attention as she picked out the occasional micro seashell riding sidesaddle on the leathery ribbons of seaweed. While I knew the dulse would turn my usual breakfast into a nutritional powerhouse, I wasn’t quite prepared for the subtle salinity and umami roundness it added—this was some next-level smoothie work.

I met Prannie in 2010 when she was in Seattle on book tour for her exceptional cookbook, Irish Seaweed Kitchen. Seaweed is commonly associated with Chinese, Korean, and Japanese cuisines, but Ireland, England, and Wales also have a long history of incorporating seaweed into their diets. On this side of the pond, Native Americans on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts have used seaweed as food—as well as, less recently, medicine and even tools—for thousands of years. But most of the rest of America had little working knowledge of the wealth of potential food growing up and down our coastlines until recently, when coverage of seaweed’s culinary uses and apparent health benefits hit the mainstream media. Sushi might have brought seaweed, and specifically nori, into America’s consciousness, but there are dozens of other seaweeds to explore.

What Is Seaweed?

Whole-leaf dulse.

Seaweed is a colloquial term that refers to red, brown, and green algae, though it’s about as helpful a term as “landweed” would be to describe lettuce, arugula, and kale. For many people, the thought of seaweed conjures up scent memories of the slimy stuff washed up on the ocean shore. But judging these diverse and flavorful organisms by such bedraggled specimens is as unfair as judging land vegetables by the contents of your compost pile. Seaweed for eating is fresh and lovely, like a piece of perfectly plucked lettuce, and just as you wouldn’t want to eat spoiled lettuce, so would you avoid seaweed that’s sitting on the sand.

One of the most widespread seaweeds is kelp, which can be found up and down the Pacific Coast in dense liquid forests that are as impressive as stands of redwoods, yet largely invisible to most beachgoers and boaters. Kelp and all other seaweeds (or, as I prefer to rebrand them, “sea vegetables”) can be harvested year-round, but should be gathered only in areas of low industry, low population, and good water flow to avoid contamination from other sources. Additionally, make sure to check any warnings posted on the beach—the same so-called “red tide,” or algal blooms, that makes gathering shellfish risky can also contaminate seaweeds. In any event, rather than scraping up the lonely stragglers close to the shore, gathering kelp is best done by boat or kayak.

Which is what I was doing when, a year after meeting Prannie, I found myself leaning precariously over the edge of a kayak off the coast of Lopez Island, Washington, hauling onboard an 11-foot blade of kelp and slicing it off with a pocket knife. Jennifer Adler, a chef and nutritionist, was showing me and a dozen other people how to sustainably harvest a variety commonly known as “edible kelp” or “bull kelp.” It can grow to a height of 118 feet and consists of a holdfast (a root-like structure that secures the base to the ocean floor) and a single stipe (stalk) topped with a ball full of carbon monoxide, which allows the kelp to float toward the light. From this gas ball emerge dozens of blades. Each of us was encouraged to take home at most six of these blades, enough to last one person a year.

Once you’ve clipped the blades, the next step is to dry them. For me, that meant toting bags of kelp home to Seattle and awkwardly draping the blades over the balcony while my neighbor stared at me, equal parts bemused and concerned. If any moment could stamp me as a ready-made extra in a Portlandia sketch, this was it. After it had dried, I snapped the pieces into small shards and ran it in batches through my spice grinder, creating a powder that would become a key ingredient in my kitchen for the next year. Along with adding potent savory flavor and natural salinity, the ground kelp also furnished me with valuable nutrients—seaweed is known for its high calcium and iodine content, as well as fiber—thus killing three birds with one stone.

Dulse flakes.

For that matter, if your food needs a flavor boost, all varieties of seaweed are high in glutamates (the stuff of MSG, but in a less isolated form), making them, like fish sauce or Worcestershire sauce, a handy tool to keep in your arsenal of umami bombs. And, like those liquid ingredients, sea vegetables can lend savoriness to your food without overtaking the dish with their flavor: A mere pinch added to soup, salads, or smoothies will be nearly undetectable to your palate for what it is, but you’ll notice the instant flavor enhancement.

If, as is true for most of us, harvesting your own kelp doesn’t seem feasible—or sound like your idea of a good time—both cultivated and wild sea vegetables are easy to find online, in natural-foods markets, and in Asian groceries. While you can do as I did and make a powder out of your favorite type (add dried porcini mushroom for an even more complex flavor!), most seaweeds can also be purchased in ready-to-use flake or powder form.

Like shellfish farmers, sea-vegetable harvesters need to be advocates for clean water, and the best brands test for contaminants and harvest responsibly. I recommend Eden Foods and Maine Coast Sea Vegetables for their high-quality flavor and commitment to sustainability.

To help you get started adding sea vegetables to your cooking, I’ve profiled five of my favorites, all easily purchased in dried form, plus a few more obscure ones if you want to delve deeper.

Nori

Nori is the gateway seaweed: crisp, relatively mild, slightly saline, with roasted, smoky, nearly nutty notes. High-quality nori is smooth and uniform in texture, with a dark-green color. Avoid nori that is splotchy, crumbly, pale green, or reddish. Store it in airtight packaging, and, if you won’t get to it within a few weeks, double-bag it and pop it in the freezer, where it’ll maintain its freshness for about six months. For optimal textural quality, pass it quickly over an open flame to re-crisp and refresh just prior to using.

Most of us know nori from makizushi (sushi rolls) and nigiri (raw fish on sushi rice), but there are dozens of other uses for it. As a grain-free wrap, it’s a convenient way to transport tasty fillings. Roll up some quickly scrambled eggs with spinach and avocado in nori sheets, then add a bit of hot sauce for a simple breakfast to go. Pass nori sheets briefly over an open flame, brush with sesame oil, and sprinkle on some salt, then cut it into smaller rectangles for snacks. Break it up into small pieces and top rice with it, along with kimchi and a fried egg.

Kelp/Kombu

Kelp is notoriously meaty and valued for its concentration of umami. While there are many subspecies in this category, you will usually see it marketed as either “kelp” or “kombu” or both. Kombu is the Japanese word for kelp, most typically the Saccharina japonica species. (In Korean cooking, kelp is called dasima, and is an essential ingredient for making broth.)

Kelp’s powerful umami flavor is perhaps most prominent, and certainly most ubiquitous, in the savory broth called dashi, the foundation for Japanese cuisine. In fact, it was the kombu in dashi that, in 1908, led Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda to discover and name the flavor we call “umami” in the kelp’s glutamates, resulting in his creation of MSG.

You will often see a dusting of white powder on kelp. Personally, I don’t rinse this off, in order to avoid losing the amino acid glutamine, the main component in kelp’s savoriness. However, it should be noted that wiping before use to remove any particles of dirt or other contaminants is a common step in Japan, whose cooks are, of course, among the world’s most prolific users of kelp.

Like many other seaweeds, it will become damp if exposed to air, so store your kelp in a well-sealed container. If it does accumulate moisture, you can sun-dry it or put it in a 200°F (90°C) oven until it’s brittle.

Adding kelp to dried beans can enhance their flavor—and may even help tenderize the beans, as Cook’s Illustrated has found. Sandwich raw fish fillets between two pieces of kelp and refrigerate for an hour or two to firm up the flesh and add umami, then cook as you would usually do. Or, leave sashimi-grade fish sandwiched in this way in the fridge for several days as a delicious way to cure the fish; slice thinly, then eat raw.

Kelp is much tougher and thicker than other seaweeds and can lend a satisfying density when added in small amounts to salads. Simply rehydrate until soft in cool water, then drain and slice. Or, better yet, using a knife or scissors, thinly cut the “spent” kelp you’ve used for dashi or cooked with beans, and add it to your salads, rice dishes, or soups.

Wakame

Wakame is a delicate, lightly sweet seaweed, often used raw and rehydrated in salads and miso soup. Because of its silky, satiny texture, I find it important to pair wakame with ingredients that have some crunch or chew, like pink shrimp or cucumbers in a Japanese sunomono salad, for better balance. Add some to massaged kale salads along with avocado, toasted sesame seeds, and lightly pickled red cabbage or kraut. Or try using it in sesame oil–flavored cold noodle salads along with toasted peanuts and roast chicken, or in chicken soup.

Wakame is very similar to another seaweed called Alaria, which makes a good substitute if wakame is unavailable where you live, though Alaria is a bit tougher.

Dulse

Dulse is by far my favorite seaweed. It has a chewy, fruit leather–like texture and a deeply savory, bacon-y flavor that’s especially enjoyable when it’s pan-fried over medium-high heat until crisp. In fact, this is the only type of seaweed that I enjoy eating nearly unadorned, at times right out of the bag. It’s saltier than nori, so you may not need any additional salt when using it in your food. Dulse has also been used as a substitute for chewing tobacco, probably due to its leathery texture and rich, deep aroma—though, admittedly, I don’t carry a tin of dulse chaw in my back pocket.

Cook up onions and salt them with dulse flakes, then use them to make baked beans or cassoulet, cioppino or chowder. Add a scant teaspoon to smoothies. Crisp the dulse in a pan and use it in a sandwich with lettuce and tomato for a vegetarian take on a BLT. Make a seafood and sea-vegetable paella and crumble toasted dulse over the top, along with charred lemons and plenty of clams and mussels. Toast it and grind it in a spice grinder, then use it on top of popcorn, along with olive oil.

Arame

Arame is a mildly sweet kelp that looks like wispy, wiry strands of black vermicelli. Rehydrate it in warm water for five minutes, then toss the arame into salads with roasted kabocha or butternut squash, toasted pumpkin seeds, sesame oil, and rice vinegar; the color contrast between the black arame and the orange squash is especially appealing. When you’re roasting carrots, add rehydrated arame, along with grated ginger, in the last 10 minutes of cooking. Or, try stir-frying broccoli with oyster sauce and arame.

Arame is a close cousin (though thinner and more tender) of hijiki, a seaweed that’s become controversial in recent years due to its high levels of inorganic arsenic. National food-safety authorities disagree over the risks of consuming hijiki—you can read up on the science here—but if you decide against it, arame makes a great substitute.

Other Sea Vegetables to Look For

Sea Lettuce

Essentially the salad greens of the sea-vegetable world, sea lettuce is tender, mild, and best eaten raw.

Ao-nori

Ao-nori is a bright-green, especially fragrant form of nori, commonly used in flake form and sprinkled (for example) over the savory Japanese dish okonomiyaki. I love to sprinkle it on soup or egg dishes, too; try it as a garnish on Daniel’s pork omurice with okonomiyaki sauce.

Ogo-nori

A red or purplish lacy sea vegetable with a snappy texture, most commonly seen in your bowl of poke, ogo-nori is sometimes found fresh or dried in Japanese or Hawaiian markets, or online. Ogo can be pickled or used in salads or kimchi. Consider using it as a gorgeous bed to display raw oysters, too.

Sea Grapes

Sea grapes, also known as umibudo and sold fresh instead of dried, are a delightful sea vegetable that looks like tiny clusters of caviar, with the brininess of the sea and a satisfying pop. I use them as garnishes for seafood-based pasta dishes; you can also blanch and shock them to remove extra salt, then dip them in a citrus-soy sauce.

Samphire

Also known as Salicornia or sea beans, though it looks more like teeny-tiny bolting asparagus, samphire is a salty, snappy sea vegetable found in salt marshes. Like sea grapes, samphire is sold fresh. It’s ideal when blanched and shocked in ice water, then heated gently with butter and served with fish dishes or in salads.

amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0"; amzn_assoc_search_bar = "true"; amzn_assoc_search_bar_position = "bottom"; amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "megumi09-20"; amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "search"; amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon"; amzn_assoc_region = "US"; amzn_assoc_title = "Shop Related Products"; amzn_assoc_default_search_phrase = "cookware"; amzn_assoc_default_category = "All"; amzn_assoc_linkid = "b45319dac495d29e17b5eff312392025";

Source link