Nori, a sea vegetable, is getting more common around the world these days because it is used in sushi.
In Japan, we eat many kinds of sea vegetables other than nori.
In this blog post, I will introduce some other popular sea vegetables to tourists in Japan.
I hope the information is useful for people interested in Japanese food culture.
Please try Japanese sea vegetables when you travel to Japan.
We often eat Nori and Wakame.
Nori is used in sushi and rice ball.
Wakame is a typical ingredient of miso soup.
Sometimes wakame is topped with udon, soba and ramen.
Nori is also topped with noodles such as udon, soba and ramen.
Nori has good flavor.
Red one is aka-tosaka 赤トサカ. Aka-tosaka and wakame are sometimes served with sashimi or salad.
Upper right: Salad of wakame and aka-tosaka
Left: Dried wakame | Right: Nori
A convenience store 7-Eleven offers 3 kinds of sea vegetables.
Tokoroten ところてん, Mozuku もずく, Mekabu めかぶ
Tokoroten ところてん
A traditional Japanese food Tokoroten ところてん is made from a kind of sea vegetable Tengusa 天草 (agarophyte). This food is not sweets.
Tokoroten ところてん 138 yen
Put vinegar sauce and mustard in it.
Tokoroten is unique in texture and looks like jelly and noodles but, it is made from a sea vegetables Tengusa 天草.
I bought this tokoroten at a supermarket (not 7-Eleven).
Mozuku もずく
Mozuku もずく 192 yen (3 packs)
Mozuku and sweet vinegar sauce are packed together.
It is soft in texture and a little sour taste. I like it.
Mekabu めかぶ
Mekabu めかぶ 203 yen (3 packs)
Mekabu is slimy. If you like slimy or sticky Japanese food such as natto and okra, probably you like mekabu.
It is a little bit harder in texture than other sea vegetables.
7-Eleven's mekabu taste very light. I mixed with mekabu, mozuku and wasabi because this mekabu is not my desired taste.
Some sushi restaurants offer good mekabu sushi which still keeps green.
Aosanori あおさのり
Aosa-nori あおさのり
It is has stronger flavor than the others.
It is called Sea Lettuce in English at a sushi restaurant in Japan.
Many sushi restaurants offer aosa-nori miso soup.
Kombu Kelp / Seaweed こんぶ
Kombu Kelp / Seaweed is used in Oden おでん which is a type of Japanese hot pod / boiled cuisine.
Kombu is used in the making of Japanese style broth called Dashi and is also eaten as Oden.
Tororo Kombu とろろ昆布
Tororo Kombu is shaved kombu (dried kelp).
Sometimes it is in miso soup or topped with udon.
Hijiki ひじき
Hijiki ひじき
It is a Japanese traditional simmered sea vegetable seasoned with soy sauce, sugar and so on.
Umibudo 海ぶどう (Umibudo Green Caviar / Sea Grapes)
Umibudo 海ぶどう
Japanese traditional confectionery
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