Seaweed the new superfood? facts, tips and recipes!

Seaweed the new superfood has been a popular food source in Asian countries such as Japan and Korea for years. In Europe we know it mainly from natural puddles, the sea and of course from sushi. We don’t really cook with seaweed yet, although that is slowly changing.

Is seaweed the new superfood?

Seaweed contains many minerals and vitamins. Iodine, calcium, vitamin C and E. However, the high protein content is special. Some seaweed species consist of up to 30% protein. This is as much as chicken breast or a good treat. Seaweed as food is becoming more popular. In Zeeland, a seaweed farm has even started.

Cooking with seaweed: 3 tips.

Do you want to work with seaweed yourself? Check out our handy tips for the best results:

1. Start easily and use seaweed as a garnish or small addition. A salad that you always make and to which you add a little bit of seaweed you have ready. What’s more, it saves weird looks and hard-eating kids if you don’t put a plate full of seaweed on the table right away.
2. In the supermarket you can buy seaweed nowadays, but usually this is still limited. Often you can only have nori-skind hair or the seaweed is very expensive. However, there are also websites where you can order seaweed. Here the offer is much larger and the prices are sometimes better.
3. Learn an easy recipe with seaweed. Need inspiration? How about this delicious tuna with ras-el-hanout herbs and chuka-wakame salad with lime mayonnaise? Ready and healthy in an instant. You really don’t know what you want to cook, but do you still want to use seaweed? Then you can always choose sushi.

You’re using more seaweed than you think!

Seaweed is multifunctional and is used for many things. Did you know that researchers at the University of Wageningen make biogas from seaweed? And how about countless skin care products and other beauty products? There are also many sauna treatments, skin packs and other wellness services that use the action of seaweed.

Sushi remains the seaweed king for the time being.

The most popular application remains sushi for the time being. A well-known study on seaweed estimates that 20% of the seaweed industry consists of the production of nori sheets. According to the same study, this amounts to about 2.4 million tons of seaweed!

At Keukenvuur we understand that sushi is so popular. After all, who doesn’t love sushi? The dish can be completely adapted to your own taste, relatively healthy, ideal as a finger food and perfect for parties. In addition, you can make a vegetarian or vegan version in no time and sushi is usually gluten- and lactose-free. So no problems with special diets.

However, making sushi can also be tricky. The rice sticks too much or too little, the sheets tear or the rolling does not work well. Do you want to make your own sushi and really learn how to do it? Then stop by kitchen fire’s sushi and sashimi  workshop. Here you will spend three hours making (and eating) sushi. Afterwards you can also make sushi with confidence in your own kitchen!