Algae Wakame: Dinner in the Japanese style

Japanese cuisine has quickly taken root in Russia. Exotic, but healthy dishes found their fans and admirers. Due to high demand, products such as seaweed wakame, pickled ginger, shrimp and various seasonings, can be found in any supermarket. Today we will talk about algae.

Where to buy the product?

Growing off the coast of China and Japan, dark green algae for six months can be delivered to the tables of local residents in raw form. This is how they preserve all the useful properties, and the taste properties of the raw product are much higher. However, the Russian consumer should not worry about the quality of the product delivered to our stores. Modern technologies allow the transport of algae to wakame in vacuum packaging. But we advise buying dried seaweed. To do this, you need to visit a store of Indian spices or a Japanese supermarket. The benefits of such institutions we now have enough.

Wakame (dried seaweed): how to cook?

So, we bought a whole pack of valuable product, and now the family is provided for an extended period with an indispensable ingredient for a variety of oriental dishes. Dried algae have the property of greatly increasing in volume, so we take them quite a bit. We will soak in cold water, 15 minutes will be enough. If we want to eat algae in salads or serve as a side dish, it is better to boil them a little. To do this, after soaking, we will drain the water, recline the delicacy on a sieve, then place it in boiling water and cook for just 2 minutes. After this, you can immediately recline the sieve and cool it under a stream of cold running water. Wakame algae are also traditionally used in the preparation of soups and stewed vegetables. The taste of the product is somewhat similar to spinach, despite its slippery texture, pleasantly crunches.

The use of an exotic product

On top of the hit parade of the beneficial properties of these East Asian algae, you can put a high content of iodine in them. We all know how difficult it is for the body to cope with iodine deficiency, and we prefer to fill the gap with pills. However, the natural product is much better absorbed. In the second place we will set a low calorie content. You can recommend a useful product as an ingredient for various dietary dishes. Also note that it contains a rare substance called fucoxanthin, which can burn fat.

Further, we note that seaweed wakame has practically no contraindications. No known disease can impose a ban on their use. The only thing that can prevent the use of vakame in food is only an individual intolerance to the body. Well, in conclusion, we note that algae contain a large amount of potassium and fiber, and can interfere with the development of arteriosclerosis of vessels, are a natural anti-cancer agent, increase immunity, and help the heart muscle work well.

Algae Wakame: recipes. Salad with cucumber

If before you have not tried this oriental delicacy, we recommend starting to taste the taste in combination with a traditional cucumber and with the thought of incredible benefits. As ingredients for salad will need:

• 10 grams of dried seaweed.
• Cucumber - 1 piece.
• Rice vinegar - 4 tbsp. Spoons.
• Soy sauce - 1 tbsp. a spoon.
• Salt.
• Powdered sugar.
• Marinated ginger for decoration.

When buying a pack of dried seaweed in a Japanese supermarket, do not forget about traditional seasonings, in particular rice vinegar. Well, pickled ginger and soy sauce are sold everywhere. While the wakame seaweed is soaked, we will tackle the cucumber. Armed with a vegetable peeler, we remove from the cucumber along several strips to make it striped. Cut the cucumber also along into two halves. Seeds and pulp for our dishes do not fit, so we'll scrape the insides with a spoon. The remaining solid and striped part of the cucumber will be cut thin slices across. Next, sprinkle the crushed cucumber with a teaspoon of salt and leave to salivate for 15 minutes.

When seaweed is wetted, we will boil them in boiling water for 2 minutes, then rinse in cold water. On the sieve to the algae we add the cucumbers and thoroughly squeeze everything from excess salt and moisture. In a bowl, pour rice vinegar and soy sauce, combine everything with the powdered sugar and stir until it is completely dissolved. It remains only to add to the dressing algae with cucumber and mix everything. The dish, spread out over the plates, is garnished with sliced ginger. If the salad seemed dietary, you can later add to the dish boiled shrimp.