Nori - not just the sushi seaweed

Nori is sometimes called the sushi seaweed. But you don't always have to make sushi with it.

In fact, there are many ways to use this sushi seaweed. And so it comes in many different forms:

• 8-inch square sheets for making sushi rolls, or maki sushi. Note that the quality and price ranges greatly, from about US 6 cents per sheet for the lowest grade to nearly US$1 per sheet for the highest grade.
  
  
• 4-inch x 1-inch strips for making hand-formed or nigiri sushi, especially gunkan maki, also known as "warship rolls".
  
  
• Flavored 4-inch x 1-inch strips to be eaten on their own as snacks. Japanese versions may be flavored with shoyu, sugar and spices while the Koreans flavor their strips of sushi seaweed with seasame oil or wasabi. Avoid those that contain the flavor enhancer, MSG or monosodium glutamate. Also be careful not to eat too much as they can be quite delicious and addictive.
  
  
• Very fine strips for use as toppings and garnishes - over thick, cream-style soups, vegetable dishes or tofu.
  
  
• Aonori - usually sold as a powder or fine flakes, to sprinkle onto food. Aonori is actually a different type of seaweed, as regular nori is a species red algae whereas aonori is a species of green algae - but the Japanese name translates to "blue seaweed".

Chinese nori seaweed

There is also nori seaweed from China, which costs much less than Japanese sushi seaweed. Chinese nori is sold as dried nori "leaves" pressed together into a round, flat "cake" the way some tea leaves, such as the highly-prized (and priced) pu'er tea, is packed.

Chinese nori is usually cut into small pieces and added to clear soups, such as fishball noodle soup and fish porridge, which is actually a rice soup with slices of fish. Both are dishes of the Teochew dialect group.

The Chinese dish of yong tao foo - tofu and vegetables with fish paste, served either in a clear soup or a gravy mixture of chilli and sweet sauce - may also include a piece of Chinese nori. This dish is of Hakka origin, but there are also Teochew and Hokkien versions and the nori was probably introduced by the Teochews.

Nori seaweed in Western cultures

Nori, the sushi seaweed, is also eaten in Western cultures where it is known as laver. It is common in North America and Canada, where the American Indians eat it with corn as well as in Britain, Ireland and Wales.

The Welsh eat nori as laverbread, made by boiling laver for several hours and then minced or pureed to form a gelatinous paste. Laverbread is eaten on its own or rolled in oatmeal. It is also traditionally fried with bacon and cockles for breakfast.

Another simple way to eat laver / nori is to heat it gently and serve with butter and lemon or orange juice.

OK now for some recipes...

Purple-green sushi seaweed rolls

This unusual sushi seaweed roll, made without sushi rice, comes from macrobiotic cook Aiko Tanaka. She had stood in for Aveline Kushi when Aveline could not make it for a macrobiotic seminar led by Michio Kushi in Singapore in 1993. Aiko's recipes are basically "no recipes", as you can see...

INGREDIENTS:

• toasted nori sheets
• purple cabbage - have more purple cabbage than green vegetables
• green leafy vegetables (she used siow bai chai but any green vegetable will do)
• sea salt

METHOD:

1. Boil a pot of water and add a generous pinch of sea salt.
2. Cut purple cabbage into fine strips and blanch for about 1 minute. Do not overcook, or it will lose its bright color. Drain and set aside to drip dry.
3. Similarly cut the green vegetables finely, blanch, drain and set aside to drip dry.
4. Place a sheet of nori sushi seaweed on a sushi mat, with the rough side facing up. Spread cabbage to cover half of the nori sheet. Place green vegetables across the middle of the cabbage.
5. Pick up the nori and the sushi mat with your thumb and index fingers. Roll the ingredients tightly. Using a sharp knife, cut each roll into six bite-size pieces.

VARIATION: Similar, and even more colorful sushi seaweed rolls can be made with finely cut purple cabbage, carrot and various other vegetables. Many health food restaurants / cafes in Singapore, especially those run by raw food advocates, have this "sushi" on their menu.

Very simple nori soup

1. Bring some water to the boil.
2. Add a crushed umeboshi plum, or 1 tbsp umeboshi paste
3. Add some nori - use the cheap Chinese type, no need for costly sushi seaweed

Gluckastan - Red Indian corn with nori

I cannot remember where I got this laver recipe from the Tsawatainak Indian tribe in the Pacific Northwest. This was one of the seaweed recipes published in The Good Life, a newsletter on natural health that I produced from 1989 to 1976.

The original recipe probably did not use milk, as American Indians are not known to use milk and other dairy products. But the milk, or soy milk does lend a richness to it.

INGREDIENTS:

• corn kernels from 2 fresh corn cobs
• 4 tbsp milk or soy milk
• 1 cup wild laver or nori - use the cheap Chinese-style nori

METHOD

1. In a saucepan, cook corn kernels with the milk or soy milk over medium heat.
2. Separately, roast nori in a dry pan, taking care not to burn. When the nori is dry and crumbly, crumble it over the corn. Alternatively, use two sheets sushi seaweed nori, which is dry and crumbles easily.
3. Simmer for another 10 minutes. Add more milk or soy milk if the mixture dries up.

Nori condiment