JAPANESE SEAWEED & TOFU SALAD RECIPE

My husband’s grandparents came from a beautiful chain of islands off the south of mainland Japan called Okinawa. Okinawa is best known outside of Japan for enjoying one of the highest life expectancies in the world. This is mainly attributed to their healthy diet which includes tofu, seaweed and sweet potato.

Although Ireland has always had an abundant supply of seaweed it's only recently that we've started to take advantage of this wonderful natural resource. Nowadays, we have a collection of Irish seaweed companies including the Wild Irish Sea Veg, Cleggan Seaweed Company, Carraig Fhada Seaweed and VOYA). 

If you'd like to learn about seaweed and how to cook with it an Irish lady called Prannie Rhatigan wrote a fantastic book called "Irish Seaweed Kitchen".

Here's a very basic recipe of mine using seaweed and tofu.

INGREDIENTS:
3 medium size tomatoes (cut into bite size pieces)
1 tbsp dried wakame seaweed (soak in a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes)
280g tofu/ small block of tofu (preferably organic GM free)

Salad dressing
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp wasabi
Half tsp brown sugar

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Put all the salad dressing ingredients into an empty jam jar, put the lid on and shake well until the sugar is dissolved. 
2. Cut the block of tofu into small bite size cubes.
3. Take the wakame out of the water and place on kitchen paper to remove excess water.
4. Place the tofu, wakame and tomato pieces in a salad bowl.
5. Pour the dressing over the salad when ready to eat.

Where can I buy seaweed?
Seaweed is available in Asian markets and health stores and more recently it's available in supermarkets. My local fish shop has a great selection of seaweed.

TIPS:
Depending on your own taste add more or less wasabi and sugar.

NOTES:
See my miso soup recipe with wakame and tofu.
For more info on seaweed see www.seaweed.ie

Japanese Renkon & Wakame Salad - Lotus Root & Seaweed Salad

This is a refreshing and healthy salad that can be quickly prepared. You don't have to follow the exact ingredients listed below, use whatever you have in the fridge! 

Click here to see my last post on lotus root which has a brief note on the health benefits associated with lotus root and where it can be sourced.  

 
Ingredients:
300g renkon/ lotus root (peeled and cut into thin slices)
1 medium sized carrot (peeled and cut into julienne strips)
Half a large cucumber (remove seeds and cut into julienne strips)
1 tbsp dried wakame (seaweed)
1 tsp vinegar
2 tbsp mayo
1 tsp Japanese soya sauce
Salt & Pepper (to season)

Instructions:

1. Add 1 tsp of  vinegar and sliced lotus root to a mediun sized saucepan of boiling water and boil for 10 mins. 

2. Remove the lotus root from the water and set aside to cool on kitchen towel to remove excess water.

3. Place the dried wakame in a bowl of cold water for about 10 minutes. Then remove the wakame from the water and place on kitchen towel to remove the excess water. 

4. Place the cooled lotus root, wakame, carrots and cucumber in a large salad bowl.

5. Add 2 tbsp of mayo, 1 tsp of soya sauce and pepper. 

6. Mix well and serve chilled.

Tips:

After peeling lotus root it can quickly turn brown so soak it in water and vinegar if you're not going to use it immediately. 

Where can I find lotus root? 

In most Asian markets

What are the health benefits associated with lotus root?

Low in calories and high in dietary fibre, iron, vitamin C, vitamin B-6, thiamim and riboflavin. 

 

BASIC JAPANESE COOKING INGREDIENTS PART II

This post is a continuation of my first post on Basic Japanese Ingredients and gives a brief description of an extended list of basic ingredients used in Japanese home cooking. All these ingredients can be found in either Asian markets or large supermarkets. From my experience Asian supermarkets tend to be cheaper compared to supermarkets.

NORI - ROASTED SEAWEED

These roasted seaweed sheets are well known for wrapping sushi rolls. They can be shredded and sprinkled over dishes before serving. This type of seaweed is relatively easy to find and not expensive.

WAKAME - TYPE OF SEAWEED

Wakame is often added to Japanese miso soup and Japanese style salads. Be careful how much wakame you add to a dish as these tiny dry pieces of seaweed expand once they are added to water. 



HIJIKI - TYPE OF SEAWEED

Hijiki goes well with vegetables in a Japanese style stir-fry. It's important to soak the dried seaweed in water before adding to any dishes.

KOMBU - TYPE OF SEAWEED

This seaweed is used along with bonito fish flakes to make Japanese homemade fish stock called dashi.

KATSUOBUSHI - BONITO FISH FLAKES

Katsuobushi is used along with kombu seaweed to make Japanese homemade fish stock. It goes well with fresh tofu and soy sauce. Depending on where you live it can be difficult to get and a little expensive. I get it in my local Asian supermarket.

TOFU - PREFERABLY GM FREE

Tofu is made from fermented soya beans. It's low in calaroies yet high in protein and calcium. Try to buy tofu in an Asian store as the quality and the taste of the tofu tend to be much better. Fresh tofu can be eaten cold straight from the fridge or added to hot dishes. 

PANKO - JAPANESE BREAD CRUMBS

The biggest difference between panko and standard breadcrumbs is that panko doesn't contain the crust of the bread and the breadcrumbs are bigger in panko. Seemingly panko absorbs less oil than standard breadcrumbs! Panko is used for dishes such as Japanese style croquettes and tonkatsu.

ROASTED SESAME SEEDS

These are often sprinkled over dishes before serving.

NANAMI TOGARASHI - JAPANESE SEVEN SPICES

This spice mix includes chilli, orange peel, black sesame seed, white sesame seed, seaweed, Japanese pepper and ginger. It's often added to Japanese dishes to add a little kick and extra taste to the dish. 

 

SESAME OIL
Used to flavour Japanese Chinese style dishes such as fried rice

SHISO LEAF

A type of herb that is used in Japanese cooking. It can be difficult to find in supermarkets outside of Japan however if you can get shiso leaf seeds then you can grow your own!

WASABI - JAPANESE HORSERADISH

This is the green coloured mustard that is served with sushi. The wasabi root looks like a ginger root and can be hard to find. 

UDON NOODLES

A type of thick wheat flour noodle. Udon is usually served in a clear lightly seasoned soup with other ingredients.

 

RAMEN NOODLES

This is a wheat noodle used for Japanese Chinese style dishes including "Ramen" which is a tasty and very popular noodle soup. 

SOBA NOODLES

This is a thin brown buckwheat noodle which tends to be eaten cold during the summer months and hot during the colder times of year.