Nori is a popular seaweed used in sushi dishes.
Seaweed is a staple in the Japanese diet. The Japanese harvest this nutritious weed from saltwater oceans and seas to use in soups and as a healthy seasoning. Seaweed is purely organic and its benefits include antioxidants and essential nutrients like vitamins and minerals to the body.
Kombu
Kombu is harvested mainly off the island of Hokkaido, Japan. This seaweed thrives in calm water from 2 to 15 meters deep. It is brown and rich in iron and iodine. The plant lacks some of the vitamins and other minerals found in red seaweeds. Kombu grows naturally and is ready for cultivation after 20 months.
Wakame
Wakame is a brown seaweed with a high fiber content. Raw wakame has a higher nutritional content. It is found in bays and on the rocky shores of Japan. Wakame is often sold dried and is an ingredient in miso soup and sunomono salad. Wakame is considered a luxury food and is gaining popularity in Japan. Harvest season runs from April to July in various areas of Japan. Wakame is washed with water after harvesting and laid out in the sun to dry.
Nori
Nori is also referred to as purple laver. It is one of the most nutritious seaweeds, containing 50 percent protein. Nori comprises thin, dried seaweed sheets that are used for wrapping rice in sushi dishes. This seaweed may be use in wines and jams or boiled and incorporated into soy sauce. Nori has the highest production of any other food source in Japan and is cultivated in temperate climates.
Aonori
Aonori is produced in the shallow waters of Japan's bays. It can be cultivated in deeper waters using rafts. Aonori is grown using spores that reproduce into this plant. This seaweed can be grown in saltwater and has a high iron and calcium content with little fat and sodium. Aonori, also known as green laver, can be processed into flat sheets or sold and consumed in a dry form.
Hiziki
Hiziki is a brown seaweed cultivated in southern Hokkaido and Honshu in Japan.This plant also grows in the wild. It has a low fat content and most of the vitamins are destroyed when processing Hiziki. The seaweed's mineral content remains high during processing. During harvesting, Hiziki is washed with seawater and left to dry in the sun. Hiziki is often cooked in stir fries and simmered as a stew with vegetables.
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