Reading about the Okinawan diet is what originally caused my seaweed salad craving (it was covered in brief in one of my readings). I pretty much haven't been able to stop thinking about it since! I had some last week with Dave at Umi Sake House. Then more a couple of days ago with Jill (bought at the grocery store; not the best I've had, but it worked). Tonight I've decided to give a go at making it myself.
I was very disappointed with Draegers' Japanese food selection (the aisle label of "ethnic foods" should have tipped me off, but I was still hopeful that I would find the ingredients I was seeking). No such luck. 5 minutes and a quick search on my iphone later, we were on our way to Suruki Japanese Supermarket (only 2 blocks from Draegers!). I was thrilled when I walked in at all there was to look at. JR, however, became frustrated that he couldn't read the labels and sought a clerk to help us track down the needed ingredients - wakame seaweed, dashi, and miso (the latter two for the miso soup that would accompany our seaweed salad).
For the salad, I located a recipe online and made a number of substitutions - tamari instead of soy sauce, agave in place of sugar, and I played with the quantities a bit to suit my taste. Here's what I did:
Seaweed Salad
Serves 2
4 Tbsp. dried wakame
3 Tbsp. tamari
3 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil
1 tsp. agave nectar
1 tsp. fresh ginger, minced
2 scallions, thinly sliced (including greens)
1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds
Soak wakame in warm water for about 8 minutes to reconstitute. Meanwhile, mix dressing ingredients (tamari through ginger) and set aside. Drain wakame and rinse with cold water. Combine wakame, dressing, scallions, and sesame seeds in a medium bowl, mixing to combine. Allow to sit in the fridge for 30 minutes before serving.
This salad looked a little different from the seaweed salad I've been consuming lately (this seaweed was more "seaweedy" vs. thin strips more like vermicelli noodles that I've been having at restaurants - perhaps a different kind of seaweed?). But the taste was fantastic.
I'm definitely a novice when it comes to Japanese cooking, but want to continue to explore it. Let me know if you have any tips or favorite recipes!
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