Month: August 2012

Recently, Japanese national network morning TV show was featuring kombu seaweed as a topic of the day for the way to beat the heat. As I talked many times in this blog, the show talked about how kombu seaweed is good for your health and beauty such as rich in minerals, helps avoid absorbing fattening content of the food, protecting your skin from UV rays and so on.

What intrigued me in the show was the use of dashi-kombu seaweed. Dashi-kombu is used to make kombu soup stock and they introduced using a kombu water, water with kombu in it for convenience. All you need to prepare is 10g (0.35oz) of shredded kombu and1 litter (1qt) of water. Dunk in shredded kombu in the water and Voila! It’s all set to use it in your cooking. It lasts for a week by keeping it in the fridge so you don’t have to hassle each time with kombu before you start cooking. Kombu water can be used in any food recipe as a substitute of regular water. Dashi stock using kombu seaweeds are must-have ingredients in Japanese cuisine. People usually have to prepare dashi stock right before they start cooking each time, but with having a kombu water, you could use stored kombu water that was prepared prior to the cooking. Since preparing dashi stock right before cooking is unnecessary, you may use it in any situation and as a substitute for the water. kombu water will enhance your dishes savory with kombu seaweed’s umami taste on top of the health benefits. The uses are not only for Japanese food, it can be used in anything and it will enhance umami (savory taste) of the food.

With this kombu water, you can use the same kombu seaweed twice and used kombu can be used are edible just like all the other dashi kombu. Kombu water is very economical way of making food tastes better by reusability and edible after finish using.
When you have finished using kombu seaweed, the who introduced a ways to reuse it. One of the recipes was mixing it with olive oil and uses it as a multi-purpose sauce. In the show, they used it as a cooking oil, salad dressing and topping. The other way was using it by putting it in the vinegar to make the taste of vinegar less pungent and mellow.
This kombu water is very easy to make, convenient use, tasty and healthy use of dashi kombu seaweed. Try it at your house and discover your favorite recipes.

NPR talks about seaweed and hijiki in the kitchen window titled “Just Add water: the miracle of seaweed.”
http://www.npr.org/2012/07/17/156918881/just-add-water-the-miracle-of-seaweed

It talks about how crispy nori seaweed is popular among young health conscious child for its umami and long shelf life with rich in mineral. Article talks about iodine, vitamins and other essential trace minerals used by the body, and its starchy phycocolloids aid in removing heavy metals from our systems. This author talks how to cook different parts of seaweed in cooking style in traditional Japanese way and hot to get ingredients from local groceries store.

toasted nori snack / miheco

Speaking of just adding water, product we sell right now in the US, Seaweed on the Go, can be cooked just by adding water. Indeed, it is truly a miraculous product.

Anyways, head to the local organic grocery store or Asian market and make this sesame nori crisps and many other seaweed recipes. They don’t sell those in Japan so I need to go make one for myself too!

As the season get in to a height of summer, temperature getting really high in both US and Japan. Just standing in the outside right now makes me sweat, and even inside the house is steaming hot like sauna. Every year of this season, news reports always tell us how many people get heat injuries both outdoor and indoor. Due to high interest of public, many products regarding salty food is huge market right now in Japan such as Salt candy, or anything with extra salt added. Our company has been selling shio-kombu for long time and many people use it to countermeasure heat injury. Shio komb is made by cutting kombu kelp into squares or thin strips lengthwise before boiling in water, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar, and finally sprinkling seasoning such as salt and eaten with rice usually. Shio kombu is versatile product that can be used in many occasion, such as adding it to water, cooking, making pickles and more. It can be carry around with everywhere you go. Shio kombu Seaweed is packed with iodine, vitamins and other essential trace minerals used by the body, and its starchy phycocolloids aid in removing heavy metals from our body systems.

I hope all of you guys stay cool and enjoy your summer!

Kombu seaweed has so many different uses and depending on that, use and price of kombu varies too. Then what’s the highest price dashi-kombu? Top-notch dash-kombu is said to be natural Rausu-kombu that is cultivated in mid July. This year, cultivation of Rausu kombu started on July 15^th.

Rausu kombu only grows in certain area of Hokkaido region and has a characteristic of bigger kelp and richer dashi stock and said to be the “King of kombu seaweed”

Most of natural Rausu kombu goes to high-class Japanese restaurants and rarely reaches the market. Where I found one site that handle top-rated kombu seaweed, reservation is needed and not all of them can get one due to uncertainty of kombu seaweed yield. By now, all the reader is probably wondering “So what is the price!” natural Rausu kombu is 2700yen per kelp and weight about 130g (4.58oz). Now, you might feel 2700 yen just for a soup stock is over priced but they can be used couple times and eat at the end, making it economical.
We, Kurakon, will continue to provide consistent quality kombu-seaweed that does not to be outdone by natural Rausu kombu to customer.

Oarweed / La.Catholique

Last week in this blog, we talked about the difference between western world kombucha and Japanese kombucha. This week, we would like to focus on Japanese kombucha, made from powdered kombu seaweed kelp tea.
As we talked briefly last week, kombu seaweed tea is made of kombu seaweed kelp being thinly sliced, or powdered and used as a beverage.
Majority of people enjoy kombu seaweed powder that can be bought at the local grocery store instead of making your own by crushing kombu kelp.
On top of that, not many people use kombu seaweed tea as a way to quench their thirst nowadays. More and more people started to use kombu seaweed tea for cooking to add a hint of Umami taste in their everyday cooking. Many food companies have launched kombu seaweed tea powder with different varieties. By using it as an ingredient, it will add deeper tastes and can be used as healthy substitute for salt and soy sauce also. Since it is powdered product, no preparation is needed, just mix or sprinkle it in your dish.
We have come up with new product this summer using kombu seaweed tea. Using all the knowledge from handling kombu seaweed products for over 90 years, we are launching kombu seaweed tea on this coming august. This product can be use not only for the tea but to make pickles and many other dishes.
Sorry for all the reader in US, but so far, this new product is only in sale in Japan. Please continue to support us and might have a chance to sell it in US.
Here is the recipe using kombu seaweed tea powder for cooking.

Kombu seaweed tea pasta　(1 serving)

1 serving
Spaghetti 4oz
– Bacon 2 slice
– Mushroom 2oz.
– Spinach 2oz
– Olive oil 1 tablespoon
– Kombu seaweed tea powder 1 teaspoon

1. Cook pasta noodles
2. Cut bacon, spinach and mushrooms
3. Pour olive oil in a pan and　cook bacon with low heat
4. Add spinach and mushroom into the pan and continue stirring.
5. Add pasta and kombu seaweed tea powder.
6. mix it well

/ Omar de Armas

Recently, Kombucha has gained a lot of reputation and popularity in United States and European countries. The word kombucha originated from Japan but meaning has changed and Kombucha now points out two different things. When people in western culture think of kombucha, they are talking about acidic fermented tea originated from Northeast China and Russia that contains many bacteria and yeasts. However, Japanese kombucha, is made from kombu kelp, as the word kombucha directly translates to “kombu kelp tea”. Japanese kombucha is made from regular or powdered kombu often mixed with green tea and poured over hot water, while western kombucha is made from dividing yeast from kombucha mother. Kombu kelp contains rich minerals and Umami, making plain water full of tastes.
In Japan, western kombucha were called “mushroom red tea” because of all the fungus and how layer of bacteria looks like umbrella in the fermenting process. Western kombucha have gained popularity on 1970’s in Japan due to its health reason and easy to reproduce between families with low cost.

Now, how did change in the meaning of kombucha occurred? Its etymology has not been certain but it is believed that thick gelatin layer on the tea resembled seaweed, thus, getting the name kombucha. Kombucha might mean different in Japan and US, but both teas have a lot of health and beauty benefit by consuming them. Why not try both kombucha and share this trivia to people who love drinking western kombucha.