Since SOPHYTO Organics bioesthetician Ishtar Magally’s last post about Wakame, we’ve had a few enquiries about where to buy it and want to do with it so I thought I’d add a few words…
First of all, you can buy both the dried sea vegetable (whole) and the powdered version from Pacific Botanicals. The company ships product all over the world. If you are in the US, you can also buy powdered Wakame from Healthy Traders.
As for what to do with it, if you are going for the dried veg version, you can hydrate it and put it in soups or salads or stews and all sorts. The Japanese tend to whack it into all kinds of Miso soups and broths. Seaweed salads are also really tasty. I found the following recipes on Black Moon which sound great:
For Miso soup, “Simply soak a teaspoon of the dried seaweed in water and after it swells up (20 minutes), squeeze out the excess water, chop into bite sized pieces and place into small bowls. Ladle the miso soup over the seaweed and serve.
The following recipe is for one of the most delicious salads that I know of, in any cuisine! It’s made from wakame seaweed and kyuri (Japanese cucumbers).
1 cup of wakame (soak 1/4 cup of dried wakame to get 1 cup of seaweed)
1 kyuri (Japanese cucumber)
4 tablespoons of rice vinegar
2 tablespoons of sugar
3 tablespoons of shoyu
In a serving bowl, combine the chopped wakame with the cucumber slices and mix well. Pour the chilled dressing over the vegetables and toss. Serve in small bowls topped with some white sesame seeds.”
I love wakame salad with sushi and I have also had it with ordinary cucumber which is delicious too so don’t worry if you can’t get hold of the Kyuri mentioned above.
Kate Heyhoe, author of Cooking Green, has also published her own version of wakame salad, which includes red pepper flakes…
Hope that helps… happy wakame cooking and if you discover any other great recipes, do let us know 