Wakame

Undaria pinnatifida

seaweed

A brown Asian seaweed with supple fronds, the seaweed of miso soup and seaweed salads; introduced elsewhere, it is listed among the world's hundred worst invasive species. It provides fucoxanthin, iodine and seaweed polysaccharides.

Origin

Japan and Korea

Season (United States)

imported · all year round

Preparation

Dried, it is rehydrated for five to ten minutes in cold water, where it swells a lot: it is drained, any tough midrib cut away, and it is added to miso soup at the end or to a salad. Salty by nature: a rinse, or a short soak, takes some of it out.

Molecules

Seaweed polysaccharides · Fucoxanthin · IodineIn small amounts, not counted CalciumMinerals & trace elements Sodium (salty foods)

Did you know?

In Korea, wakame soup, miyeok-guk, is eaten on one's birthday in honour of one's mother, and for months by women who have just given birth.