How do I snack on seaweed?

February 20, 2019 2:15 PM

I love nori, wakame and, honestly, I‘m crazy for the umami flavour in general. But I‘ve only ever encountered nori as a maki wrapper, and wakame in salad. Now I‘ve seen sheets of seaweed at the asian store - is there anything quick and easy I can do with them to make a Thing To Snack On for myself?
posted by Omnomnom to Food & Drink (33 answers total)

you can just eat them straight. I like the ones that have a little sesame oil and salt on them
posted by Dr. Twist at 2:17 PM on February 20, 2019

I‘ve tried that but it‘s a little too dry for me!
posted by Omnomnom at 2:18 PM on February 20, 2019

When I was a kid, my mom was a health food nut, and the closest thing we had to potato chips was dried dulse. It's a little chewy, and very salty, but, yeah, you can eat it straight.

I've noticed a trend of packages of nori, packaged some few small notepad-sized sheets in a plastic box, and I've always just bought packages of the larger flat sheets of nori (like I also use for making rolls). Toss that in a toaster on low, eat that straight.

Is it the saltiness that makes it too dry? There's lots of seaweed I don't find appetizing relatively plain, but nori and dulse both work for me.
posted by straw at 2:21 PM on February 20, 2019

Not quick and easy, but I use it to pick up pieces of uni (sea urchin roe; kind of like a hotdog where the seaweed/ nori replaces the bun).

This grosses some people out, but I put a dab of mayonnaise on it drop some pork fluff on it, fold over like a taco and nom.
posted by porpoise at 2:22 PM on February 20, 2019

There's a line of seaweed snacks made by Tao Kae Noi that I particularly like that I buy at asian grocers here in Canada. They have variants that go through some frying and whatnot, so they're a lot less dry than the straight-up sheets. The Tom Yum Goong flavour is great, and their spicy ones are definitely on the spicy side.

They also do a tempura seaweed snack called Hi Tempura that's definitely not dry - it's a little more on the oily side.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 2:27 PM on February 20, 2019

s it the saltiness that makes it too dry? There's lots of seaweed I don't find appetizing relatively plain, but nori and dulse both work for me.

I think I just like the chewy texture of non-dry seaweed, and the sheet kind sort of stuck to my tongue.
Maybe I should...soak it and use it as a wrapper for something?
posted by Omnomnom at 2:31 PM on February 20, 2019

So for a white chick I eat a fair bit of seaweed.

First and most importantly, not all Asian grocers are the same - for ultimate seaweed snacking you need a Korean or Japanese grocer. They tend to stock the most interesting seaweed foods in my experience.

Try and get your paws on some Taokaenoi. It's basically sheets of nori that have been fried, flavoured, wrapped in batter, stuffed, salted or just otherwise elevated to glory. They're very moreish and much like crisps.

You can also get them made into crackers (often with rice as a filler but also just using seaweeds) and the word you want to be looking for is laver".

Furikaki is another one to consider - it's a mix of seaweed flakes and other things that is traditionally used to flavour rice, but I've used it on anything you'd want to give a bit of umami to. Noodles, mash, veggies...just treat it like a flavour sprinkle. I imagine it'd be great on cream cheese bagels and avo toast, too. Usually comes in either a little tumbler like a salt shaker or a sachet, so you might need to start checking the back of labels for more info or just asking the staff.

That's probably my last tip - talk to the staff! My local Japanese grocer stocks these little tubs of seaweed salads - some just mildly seasoned, others with spices and chillies, in about single serve quantities. I haven't seen it in a lot of places and wouldn't have known it was there if I wasn't a regular and was told the first time it came in.
posted by Jilder at 2:32 PM on February 20, 2019

Just to clarify, are you buying the large sheets that are meant to be used as a wrapper or the flavoured versions meant for snacking?
posted by jacquilynne at 2:35 PM on February 20, 2019

I have tried the wrapper kind and would like to make something with sheets like these (but not something complicated like sushi!).

I‘m sure the pre-made snacks taste wonderful, but I‘d like to, I don‘t know, sprinkle with oil, push into oven myself? Or soak and chop and flavour?
I‘m terrible at this, if you can‘t tell. It just seems like a funand tasty thing to try and do.
posted by Omnomnom at 2:41 PM on February 20, 2019

I would argue that you want them more crispy, not less. The pre-packaged nori snacks are roasted, while the big sheets for sushi usually are not. It's certainly worth trying for yourself - brush on some oil, a sprinkle of salt, and toast at 275° for 10-15 minutes.
posted by O9scar at 2:41 PM on February 20, 2019

Maybe something like this? Mark Bittman's Nori 'Potato Chips'
posted by Janta at 2:56 PM on February 20, 2019

wrap strips of seaweed around chunks of avocado or imitation crabmeat and dip in soy sauce and or wasabi. The laziest version of low carb "sushi". Total sacrilege, but really tasty.
posted by Sweetchrysanthemum at 2:57 PM on February 20, 2019

We are gim aficianados in my house and our most easy/fave way to eat it is buying the Costco Organic Roasted Individual Seaweed packs. They are already lightly oiled and seasoned and perfect to eat like chips, or to add to a rice bowl. You can also use them as little tortillas to scoop up tuna, or scrambled eggs, or kimchi. You can always experiment with varieties you find in other formats or other stores, but the Kirkland brand is reliably good and an accessible starting point, IMO.

Also, the method I like best when I'm eating them straight out of the package is to kind of...take a sheet, hold it parallel to your face, put your finger in the center of the seaweed, and then push the whole thing in your mouth. This method reduces the amount of errant seaweed flakes that will fall on your shirt/the floor, and by putting the whole thing in your mouth at once you give it more time to soften while you chew, if that makes sense? Taking little bites seems like the best way to eat it but is kind of the worst! YMMV!
posted by stellaluna at 3:13 PM on February 20, 2019

Also, if you are specifically looking for snacks that you can make with seaweed, the general term gimbap may bring up some good results. Basically rice rolled in a seaweed wrapper with filling of your choice.
posted by stellaluna at 3:15 PM on February 20, 2019

Just get the pre-made snack versions; they're usually oiled so they stick to your tongue less. The big sheets for making maki (sushi) rolls are pretty bland, and go stale/ dry really easily.

A lot of brands offer olive oil versions and I find those to be less tongue-sticky.

Lots of different brands to try, and yeah, Korean seems to be the way to go.
posted by porpoise at 3:23 PM on February 20, 2019

I put sheets of those Costco seaweed snacks in a quick miso, they just kind of melt into the soup. Just miso paste, hot water, and nori. And a bit of tofu and scallions if you have them.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 3:28 PM on February 20, 2019

Seconding stellaluna. We're a Korean-Filipina-American household here, so we buy kim by the cartload. It's usually pre-roasted in sesame oil and salted a bit. We use it most frequently to pick up bites from bowls of rice with kochujang or furikake; heck, you can even whiz your seaweed in a food processor and make your own furikake seasoning. Neither Mr. Kouti nor I are particularly dextrous, so we do the above far more often than we make kimbap, but you might also consider making musubi or onigiri (or Totoro onigiri!).

I wouldn't soak gim in liquid, though. When you make maki or kimbap, the steam from the rice is more than enough moisture to get the nori/kim to stick to the rice; soaking roasted seaweed in more liquid is just going to make it really difficult to manipulate. Like when you pull off a piece of plastic wrap and it starts sticking to itself before you can get it to go over whatever it needs to cover, and then you can't get it un-stuck enough to work, so you have to pull out another piece ... can you tell I hate plastic wrap? >_>
posted by Pandora Kouti at 3:42 PM on February 20, 2019

Nori granola. You can also make a party mix with it if you combine it with popcorn, small rice crackers (The wafer-like ones work best with this, but any kind will do really.), and nuts.
posted by theappleonatree at 3:42 PM on February 20, 2019

Forgot to say, if you really want to DIY your own flavors for roasting seaweed, here's a recipe or two. Maangchi has a fairly simple explanation; Beyond Kimchee goes into more detail.
posted by Pandora Kouti at 3:45 PM on February 20, 2019

The quick way to roast nori sheets is to turn the electric stove burner on low and hold one edge of the sheet in your hand and kind of brush the free part of the sheet across the hot burner. Then rotate the sheet and do it again. You'll see the texture and colour slightly change as it toasts. Then brush with sesame oil and sprinkle with salt, yum.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 3:48 PM on February 20, 2019

call me an uncultured savage, but I've enjoyed avocado smashed up on a sheet of grocery-store-tier sushi nori, sprinkled with sea salt, and folded over into a sort of squishy green sandwich.
posted by The demon that lives in the air at 4:54 PM on February 20, 2019

Norimaki is a Japanese snack of nori wrapped around a rice cracker. You could buy your own large-ish crackers and wrap your own, using a spray bottle of water to wet it enough to stick.
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:47 PM on February 20, 2019

I’ve used this recipe to toast nori sheets and it turned out great.
posted by outfielder at 6:47 PM on February 20, 2019

I have tried the wrapper kind and would like to make something with sheets like these (but not something complicated like sushi!).

I think Onigiri (rice balls wrapped with nori) is the the best way of enjoying both products, both in deliciousness and simplicity of construction.
posted by Karaage at 6:49 PM on February 20, 2019

I like it with rice. Wrap a piece around a bit of rice (with chopsticks or fingers) and eat it while the seaweed is still crispy. If you have a rice cooker, the only effort involved is waiting.
posted by esker at 7:37 PM on February 20, 2019

I've made black bean burgers (with sunflower seeds, craisins, mustard, and a bunch of other stuff mixed in) and wrapped them in nori sheets. Sooooo delicious but so messy to eat.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 8:58 PM on February 20, 2019

As Jilder mentioned above; you may very well enjoy your new journey given the seed that "furikake" is a thing (that we think you would appreciate exploring).

Not an endorsement, but my go-to furikake is made by Asjishima Foods Co - the 'Salmon Furikake' is tasty despite my skepticism on the amount of actual 'salmon' in the product.

You can sprinkle it on top of cooked rice before wrapping it in laver, or over spaghetti or polenta, or you can just sprinkle this in your palm and lick it off a little bit at a time for controlled jolts of umami.
posted by porpoise at 11:08 PM on February 20, 2019

I second Jilder's recommendation of Furikaki. It's easy to make - just toast a couple of sheets of nori and add toasted sesame seeds and a bit of salt and sugar. Pulse briefly in a food processor or use a mortar and pestle.
posted by Agave at 1:12 AM on February 21, 2019

omg, after my comment above about the messiness using nori for a wrapper, I was in Daiso this afternoon and found this perforator roller for the equivalent of $2. I am psyched!
posted by TWinbrook8 at 2:57 AM on February 21, 2019

2nding onigiri. There are variations with no nori wrapper at all, or just a small strip, but my favorites are shaped like triangles encased in a neat nori envelope.
posted by bunderful at 5:12 AM on February 21, 2019

I often treat myself to a pack of Annie Chun's Roasted Seaweed Snacks when I go to the grocery store. They're kind of a ripoff – you only get a few of them in a pack – but they're really tasty. There might be a cheaper brand, or a way to make them at home.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 11:32 AM on February 21, 2019

The Korean snack-sized nori packs are what you want. They are oilier than the large sheets you buy for sushi (your fingers will be oily after eating them) which means they shouldn't dry your mouth as much.

If you are getting furikaki my favourite flavours are shiso and yuzukosho. Give them a try if you see them at the store.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 1:01 PM on February 21, 2019

You can try Korean gim bugak. This is a home recipe for fried gim/nori coated with glutinous rice paste.
posted by whitelotus at 3:36 AM on February 22, 2019