Japanese Food Tips

Japanese often eat seaweed such as wakame, nori, konbu (kelp) and hijiki. They are well known as health foods, wakame and nori being the most popular among them. Wakame is rich in water soluble dietary fiber and is an alkaline food with excellent mineral balance. In addition to Japan, it is also popular in Korea, these two countries being the only ones in the world where it is widely eaten. Wakame is often used in miso soup and served in salads and side dishes. As a standard ingredient of miso soup, some Japanese eat it everyday. Most wakame is sold dried or salted. The harvest season is from winter to spring, and another type, raw wakame (a signal of the coming of spring) is sold only during this period. Dried wakame is sold throughout the year, and is convenient to use for many dishes. If you are interested in seaweed, why not start off with dried wakame?