What is IN seaweed (nori)?
Toe
it the other way around?). Is this just the natural smell of seaweed, or
is it random fish goo from the sea, or is it little critters that have
been caught up with the seaweed and crushed into it?
Nori, the seaweed with which much sushi is made (veg sushi too, like
avacado) is toasted and presumably otherwise processed, so it's hard for
me to tell what might be in it besides the plant.
Does anyone know the skinny on this?
Toe! ("`-/")_.-'"``-._ Is Vegetarianism a moral imperative?
\ . . `; -._ )-;-,_`) Of course it is! For details, see:
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_.- _..-_/ / ((.'
((,.-' ((,/ remove SPAM from my address to reply to my posts
Carl Hirsch
Plantae. Seaweeds & kelps taste the way they do mostly because they are
incredible "salty", in the sense that they absorb large quantities of
minerals and other substances from ocean water.
I believe nori is just dried seaweed/kelp. I wouldn't sweat the trapping
of small organisms in its gathering. Likely more bugs are killed in a
tilled field. Either way, you can be pretty confident there's no fish
involved, except for maybe their poop.
-carl
Dave and Karen
mostly enjoyed it, but the seaweed on one particular piece just smelled
too "fishy" to me to eat, so I peeled it off.
Louise Bremner
> Iziki
Hijiki? I know of the romanization of the *ji* sound as "zi" (let me
guess how you pronounce "Godzilla"? :-)), but that's the first time I've
seen *hi* romanized as "i".
> Nori is just seaweed that's been toasted. No other ingredients are
> added.
The red alga is dried first, spread out on a bamboo mat (you can often
still see the pattern)--traditionally it was dried in the sun on the
beach, but now it's often oven-dried. Then it's toasted. It tastes of
the salt and other minerals it's picked up from the sea, which could be
considered "fishy", I suppose.
But, there's a big "but".... The plain toasted version of nori (*yaki
nori*) is indeed just plain toasted and that's the type of nori that
_ought_ to be used for sushi. However, there are also flavoured versions
(*ajitsuke nori*) on sale. I found one in supermarkets here that lists
fish and shrimp amongst the ingredients in Japanese, but there was also
a near-English version of the ingredients list that did not include
them. The "English" was just for decoration--it has no legal validity in
Japan--but apparently there's at least one other brand on sale abroad
that has a similar discrepancy....
______________________________________________________________________
Louise Bremner (log at gol dot com), from grimy Tokyo
Lesley Spencer
especially if they are marketing to asians, mix fish products in it to
"improve the flavor." They have to say this in the ingredient list, however.
We didn't realize this and bought several different kinds of nori, and one of
them seemed to smell worse than the rest. We check the labels, and sure
enough, one of them had "bonito flakes" in it, and another had "fish essence,"
whatever that is. This was 2 out of 5 brands! Both of them were from Japan
with only a small stick-on label added with information in English. That's
enough, tho; if it has fish it has to say fish. (It's interesting that they
all smelled ocean-y, but we could still definitely smell a difference in the
two that had fish.) If it doesn't have it, it should have only one
ingredient, which may be "seaweed," or "vegetable," or "dried vegetable." My
favorite translation so far has been "dessicate weed." I've never seen an
American brand of nori; if I could, I would bet its packaging would be a lot
more informative.
Lesley
Carl Hirsch wrote:
> I believe nori is just dried seaweed/kelp. I wouldn't sweat the trapping
> of small organisms in its gathering. Likely more bugs are killed in a
> tilled field. Either way, you can be pretty confident there's no fish
> involved, except for maybe their poop.
>
> -carl
>
> On Tue, 27 Oct 1998, Toe wrote:
> > Of course seaweed is a plant, but it smells quite a lot like fish (or is
> > it the other way around?). Is this just the natural smell of seaweed, or
> > is it random fish goo from the sea, or is it little critters that have
> > been caught up with the seaweed and crushed into it?
>
Louise Bremner
> Some producers, especially if they are marketing to asians, mix fish
> products in it to "improve the flavor."
Nope--not "asians" but consumers in their own country who are getting
too spoilt or lazy to follow traditional ways. I think you're buying
imports of products that are every-day foods in Japan, where
manufacturers are getting worried about falling sales so need to attract
people back to their products.
AFAIK, it's only some of the ready-to-use smaller sizes of nori that are
flavoured in this way--such as small rectangles for wrapping rice balls,
strips for eating at breakfast, and "sprinkles". Sushi shops ought to be
using the largest size (if only because it's far, far cheaper) and
cutting it as required, and they ought to be aware that extra flavouring
would affect the taste of the fillings.
> ... "seaweed," or "vegetable," or "dried vegetable." My
> favorite translation so far has been "dessicate weed."
Maybe "marine vegetables" is more attractive.
> I've never seen an American brand of nori....
It's possible that the algae doesn't grow on that side of the Pacific,
or no-one's willing to go through all the hassle of turning into nori.
> I would bet its packaging would be a lot more informative.
Hey! The Japanese packaging is very informative--the flavoured varieties
of nori are clearly labeled *ajitsuke*! But of course that's not the bit
that gets translated on the English label.