Savoring Fresh Seaweed

Header photo: Sugar kelp miso soup; recipe by Claire Bastarache

It’s not that edible seaweed is entirely exotic in America: Many U.S. diners are accustomed to seeing dried nori wrapped around sushi rolls. Even kombu — another dried seaweed, used to make dashi broth — has become readily available in many grocery stores.

“But for producers of fresh seaweed, it’s very challenging to find marketplaces,” says Emily Miller, a research associate with California Sea Grant.

Miller notes that U.S. consumers most familiar with seaweed often have ties to other countries and cultures where seaweed is well established in traditional cuisine — and loyalty to favorite products, often from those countries. “That leaves U.S. producers in the lurch,” she says. Which is a shame, since seaweed production can help sustain coastal economies. The National Seaweed Hub, a collaborative Sea Grant project, heard from both growers and culinary professionals that seaweed needed a boost in public perception. So Miller and her colleagues at California Sea Grant discussed possible solutions with their local growers and decided to develop resources that would help diners understand the value of this foodstuff.

Kaira Wallace, then a California Sea Grant State Fellow who has gone on to work in aquaculture, developed an initial plan of attack: Review cookbooks and digital resources to compile a list of 130 recipes, showcasing how fresh seaweeds are consumed around the world. Since different coastlines produce different species of seaweed, Wallace grouped the recipes into three categories, depending on whether the species involved was a red, green or brown seaweed — a common classification, since the chemicals that pigment seaweeds fall into one of these colors. That was a first step toward identifying likely substitutions for species that are unavailable in the U.S.

Discussions with the team from the National Seaweed Hub identified a useful next step: The data collected could be used to develop infographics featuring recipes that could be shared on the hub itself. To get those recipes right, California Sea Grant decided to bring in the professionals, handing off batches of fresh seaweed to chefs who agreed to provide tasting notes for each seaweed, then refine the recipes or develop their own. There was one key rule: the chefs were told to make seaweed the star of the show. Miller had noticed that in many U.S. dishes, seaweed was relegated to just a garnish. To build a bigger audience, diners need to see the appeal of putting seaweed at the center of the plate, she decided.

The California Sea Grant team learned that NOAA Fisheries was interested in seaweed recipes, too; Sarah Donald, a master’s student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, came on board to coordinate the chef outreach, including culinary trendsetting chefs like chefs Jules Marsh of Kelpful, Christina Ng of Berry Good Foundation, Alanna Kieffer of Oregon Seaweed and Claire Bastarache of Fox Point Farms.

Bastarache, for one, had little experience with seaweed when she heard about the project — but a desire to gain more. “I have a love for exploring new or unconventional ingredients,” she explains. “Taking something I know you’re afraid to eat and getting it into a form that lets you think about it in a new way.”

Bastarache worked with four seaweeds, from sugar kelp (“clean,” “umami flavor”) to ulva, also known as sea lettuce (“tender,” “crisp,” “slight bitterness”). She quickly realized U.S. diners were likely to consider some seaweeds more unconventional than others: When she received her supply of ribbon kelp, for example, Bastarache could smell its unique aroma through a closed cooler lid. “I’m really gonna have to work with this one,” she remembers thinking. A solution came from fellow chef Jules Marsh: Sautee the seaweed with onions, garlic and mushrooms to use in a tostada.

Donald — who now works in aquaculture for the Port of San Diego — also developed graphic designs and copy for the infographics, ultimately creating a set of six digital “cards” that offer details about different species: where they are farmed and what they taste like, plus potential recipes. The information was recently uploaded to the National Seaweed Hub, which is maintained by Connecticut Sea Grant.

Already, the project has created at least one new seaweed convert: Bastarache, who recently became the culinary creative director at Fox Point Farms, a farm-to-table restaurant in Encinitas. In her new role, she will build menus, “bringing in the unique things that people wouldn't try otherwise,” she says. Which soon, of course, will mean seaweed.