Algae

Laminariaceae Family

This large family of Kelps includes our most familiar seaweeds, particularly the giant kelp that litters our West Coast beaches after a storm. Kelps are of great economic, culinary and environmental importance. They provide shelter and breeding grounds for many animal species. They also have many uses in food processing, including manufacturing vegan "caviar" - and many are eaten fresh or dried.

Kelp - Japanese [Konbu, Kombu, Ma-Konbu (Japan); Miyeok, Dashima (Korea); Haidai (China): Sacharina japonica (formerly Laminaria japonica) and several other L. species)] This is edible kelp grown along the coasts of Japan, Korea and China - quite different from the giant kelp of California which is processed rather than eaten directly. The long wide fronds are dried and packaged for use particularly to make soup stock, but also for to use as wrappers for various prepared foods. Almost all this kelp used for food is cultivated rather than gathered wild which explains why there are so few crunchy critters growing on it. This kelp is normally sold as flat dried sheets cut from the fronds but is also sold as narrow cut strips, salted and bagged in the refrigerated section. In Japan it is also pickled and and served as a snack to accompany green tea. The photo shows a piece of a frond as dried, and a shorter piece cut from the end after soaking. Details and Cooking. Bullwhip Kelp [Edible kelp, Bull kelp, Ribbon kelp; Nereocystis luetkeana] This kelp is found from the Aleutian Islands, Alaska to Southern California, and is an important member of the kelp forests. The tubular stype can be up to 105 feet long, topped by a float bulb and ribbon-like fronds up to 13 feet long by nearly 6 inches wide. The stypes and bulbs need to be soaked in changes of water for a few days, and then can be pickled or candied. The fronds need to be dried before they have much flavor. Fronds covered with herring eggs were very popular with northern Indian tribes.   Photo by distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic. Cuvie [Tangle; Laminaria hyperborea] I'm making a presumption that the contents of the can was L. hyperborea, because that's the kind of Laminaria most common up there around Russia - but it could be Laminaria digitata, a nearly identical kelp also found in the region. The paper compliance label stuck to the bottom just said "Laminaria" - everything else on the can was in Russian. The kelp strips were mild with a pleasant flavor, probably it's used on the zakuska table. Clearly the Russians didn't quite understand American labeling law, because the compliance sticker listed Laminaria last. Ingred: Laminaria, vegetable oil, onions, vinegar, salt, sugar, garlic, coriander, pepper.   Left photo by Sergey S. Dukachev Distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported, Right photo © cg1. Sea Tangle [Atlantic Kombu, Oarweed; Laminaria digitata (Atlantic)   |   Laminaria setchellii (Northeast Pacific)] The name "Sea Tangle" properly belongs to the Atlantic kelp L. digitata, but many packages of kelp found in Asian markets here in Los Angeles are labeled "Sea Tangle". Actually, this commercially harvested kelp is closely related to the kombu kelps of East Asia and can be used similarly, but is not found in the Pacific at all. The photo, clearly labeled Laminaria digitata, was taken in the eastern North Pacific (Washington State), so is probably the very closely related Laminaria setchellii, which is a little smaller. Both share the common name "oarweed". L. setchellii is harvested from Alaska to California, and some could be sold as Kombu in Asia, but the name "sea tangle" doesn't apply to it.   Photo by Leslie Seaton distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic. Sea Palm [Postelsia palmaeformis] This seaweed grows in high surf environments from Vancouver Island, Canada, to the central coast of California. It is illegal to harvest it in British Columbia, Washington and Oregon. In California, where it is most consumed by Japanese communities in the San Francisco region, recreational harvesting is forbidden, and commercial harvesting is tightly regulated, with licensing, fees and quotas. Both the fronds and the stypes are consumed, but mostly the fronds. Dried fronds sell for about 2018 US $45 per pound. Studies are underway to assure sustainable harvests. This is one of a very few seaweeds that spend most of their time out of the water. The Sea Palm is not to be confused with the Southern Sea Palm (Eisenia arborea), which is an underwater species with much longer fronds.   Photo by US Fish & Wildlife Service = Public Domain. Sugar Kelp [Sea Belt, Devil's Apron; Sweet Tangle (Australia); Hai dai, Kouanpan, Haihouan, Yan tsai (China); Karafuto Kombu (Japan); Saccharina latissima] This seaweed is found on the northeast coasts of the Pacific, and the northeast coasts of the Atlantic in cool temperate to arctic waters. It grows to 16 feet long and nearly 8 inches wide, living for two to four years. It is generally sold dried, and has a sweeter taste than other kelps due to sugar alcohols (mannitol) and monosodium glutamate/ There is interest in establishing it as an aquaculture crop, especially due to extreme decline in some areas, possibly an effect of global warming.   Photo by Cwmhiraeth distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported. Kelp - Giant [Macrocystis pyrifera] Along the temperate western coasts of North and South America, forests of Giant Kelp provide food and shelter for fish, crustaceans and other sea life. The greatest kelp forests in the world are off the coast of California where fronds can grow to 200 feet (60 meters), and in the warm sunlit waters of Southern California can grow more than 10 inches (25 cm) a day. California kelp is both an important resource and important to the health of the marine environment so harvesting kelp is highly regulated here. The main threat to kelp forests is not harvesting but sea urchins. Order more Uni in your local sushi bar to help the spiny lobsters keep the sea urchin population under control. Hundreds of tons of giant kelp are harvested every year for production of algin, a thickener and stabilizer used in products from toothpaste to beer to ice cream, and also to feed farmed abalone.   Photo © i0085.

Alariaceae Family

This is a relatively small family of Kelps, including only a few that are significant as food.

Wakame [Wakame (Japan); Miyeok (Korea); Qundaicai (China); Undaria pinnatifida] Wakame is a popular seaweed for soups and salads,particularly in Japan and Korea. its native region. It has become a troublesome invasive in New Zealand and some other places. It has also invaded California, but can't compete with native kelps. It is found here only in estuaries and disturbed places the native kelps haven't yet returned to. It has a softly crunchy texture and a pleasant slightly spinachy flavor. While most familiar in North America as dry, brittle black tangles in plastic bags, it is also commonly available salted in bags in the refrigerated section of Korean markets. The photo specimens are dried tangle (center), salted tangle briefly soaked (lower right) and a single piece from the salted tangle spread out (upper left). This is a short length cut from one side of the central stem. Wakame has recently been found to contain a substance that stimulates production of a fat burning protein, so expect it to become better known in the West. It has become a troublesome invasive weed along the coasts of non-Asian countries, so eat up!   Details and Cooking Winged Kelp [Edible Kelp; Dabberlocks, Badderlocks (Scotland); Murlins (Greenland); Henware (Faroe Islands); Marinkjami (Iceland); Alaria esculenta] This seaweed is found in the northeast Atlantic: Greenland, Iceland, Scotland, Ireland and the northern parts of England. It can grow to a maximum length of about 7 feet. The midribs of this seaweed are sweet and crunchy, often eaten raw or chopped and included in salads. The leafy part of the frond is a bit acrid raw, so is dried and rehydrated before use. The reproductive fronds at the base of the main frond (bottom left in photo) are peanutty in flavor.   Water color from British Sea-weeds, 1867 copyright expired. Ribbon Kelp [Winged Kelp, California nori, Wild nori, California wakame; Alaria marginata] This seaweed is found from Kodiak Island, Alaska, to Point Conception, California on the West Coast of North America. It can grow to 13 feet, but is usually quite a bit shorter in Alaska. When harvesting, only the top half of the frond should be cut off for use. This allows the plant to continue to live and produce spores to keep the population stable. Usage is much the same as A. esculenta (see above), except the leafy parts of the frond are often used fresh, though more often dried and rehydrated so they can be stored for future use. The midrib is often sliced and used in stir fries.   Photo by U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration = Public Domain.

Lessoniaceae Family

This is a small family of Kelps, including only a few that are significant as food. Most are from around Japan, or western South America

Arame [Sea oak; Eisenia bicyclis] This seaweed is found mostly around Japan, but is being farmed in South Korea and other reasonably warm waters. In Japan it is popular and may be served alone, mixed with other seaweeds in a seaweed salad, used as a garnish or included in many kinds of cooked dishes. It is normally sold dried, and takes a very short soaking cycle before it is usable. It has a light semi-sweet flavor and is high in calcium, iodine, iron, magnesium, other minerals and vitamin A. Arame is available on-line in North America, generally at more than 2022 US $6.00 per ounce.   Illustration copyright expired Kajime [Noro-kajime (Japan); Ecklonia cava] This seaweed is found mainly in the Sea of Japan, along western Japan and around Korea. It can grow to 4-1/4 feet long. It is currently in decline, and there are a number of studies to see what can be done about that due to its importance to the ecology and to humans. Kajime is currently being studied for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, and anticancer properties, and being promoted as an herbal remedy for everything from cancer to erectile disfunction. In Japan, it has long been eaten in soups and salads.   Photo by Unknown, distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported.

Hijiki

This seaweed is found along rocky coasts of China, Korea and Japan, and is now cultivated along the coast of China and the Korean coast facing China. Used as a sea vegetable in Japan, it was brought to North America by the Michio Kushi Macrobiotic movement. It is imported from Japan, China and Korea in dried form, and that is how it is generally used in Japan. It is available in two forms: Leaf Form (Mé Hijiki) as shown in the photo, and Wire Form (Naga Hijiki), which looks like a tangle of thin black wires. For details see our Hijiki page.

Bladderwrack

This seaweed is found in the North Atlantic, both east and west coasts, south to Morocco and North Carolina. It grows to about 35 inches long and 1 inch wide. Bladderwrack is used mainly as a food flavoring and additive, and as a medicinal, particularly for iodine deficiency and certain female problems.   Photo by Stemonitis distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 Generic..

Cochayuyo

This large Bull Kelp is the dominant seaweed off the shores of Chile and New Zealand, and also found around southern Argentina and Australia. It can grow to 32 feet long and has a honeycomb structure for strength and flotation. In Chile, stems and fronds are sun dried and later rehydrated for use in salads stews and soups.   Photo by franek2 distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported attribution required..

Sea Spaghetti

Native to the Baltic Sea, North Sea, and East Atlantic from Scandinavia down to Portugal, this seaweed grows to about 7 feet. The stringy fronds spawn, then decay in the late summer. New ones will sprout in the second and third years. Sea Spaghetti has been used for food for many years, in various dishes where its beefy or nutty flavors are appreciated.   Photo by Baralloco distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported.

Nori

These Red Algae is farmed intensively in Japan, Korea and China. They look just like the Laverbread in the next paragraph. Once harvested, Nori is shredded and made up into paper-like sheets very much the way handmade paper is made. These sheets are lightly toasted which turns them green. They are used as a wrapping for sushi, as a garnish, as a flavoring in soups, and seasoned for use as snacks. This important seaweed now has its own page, Nori / Gim / Kim

Laverbread

This Algae is best knonw in Wales, but is also harvested on the west coast of Scotland and the east coast of Ireland. It is used for making various forms of Laverbread. The Seaweed is havested at low tide, washed well, then boiled for hours until it becomes a stiff green paste. It is often mixed with oatmeal and fried. It is not farmed, but gathered wild

Like other Red Algae it is high in protein, iron and iodine as well as containing significant amounts of vitamins B2, A, D and C.   Photo by Rosser1954 distributed under license Wikimedia Commons Attribution Share-Alike v4.0 International.

Red Tosaka

This Indo-West Pacific algae is popular in Japan as an appetizer or salad and is also popular in Taiwan. Note that in Japan there are green and white seaweeds also called "Tosaka" and similarly used.   Photo © i0086.

Irish Moss

Found along the Atlantic coasts of North America and Europe in the intertidal and subtidal zones, this branching and generally reddish or purplish seaweed grows to about 9 inches long, It can turn green in strong sunlight. Similar species are found and harvested off Korea and Japan.

Irish moss is harvested as a source of carrageenan. This substance is used as a thickener for soups and to make jellies. Industrially it is used as a thickener and stabilizer in ice cream, luncheon meats and other processed foods, and also for fining beer and wine. It has a long history of medicinal use in Europe as well.

Irish moss is always harvested wild, with Canada the major harvester at about 10,000 tons per year followed by France at about 1,260 tons per year.   Illustration from Koehler's Medicinal-Plants, copyright expired.

Sea Lettuce

Sea lettuce is found in tidal and near tidal seawater worldwide, generally anchored to rocks or other algae. It is eaten raw in salads and cooked in soups, particularly in Scandinavia, Great Britain, Ireland, China, and Japan. It is also eaten dried (see next paragraph)

Sea lettuce is small, generally around 6 inches long but can grow to nearly 40 inches. It is almost transparently thin and consists of a single wide frond anchored at one point. It may be ruffled or somewhat divided, generally resembling the lettuce leaves after which it is named. U. lactuca is common worldwide in tropical and temperate regions, but is less common in arctic regions.

Most sea lettuce is gathered wild as it grows prolifically wherever there are sufficient nutrients, in both highly and moderately saline waters, but some is farmed.   Photo by Kristian Peters licensed under GNU Free Documentation License v1.2.

Sea Lettuce / Stone Hair

Stone Hair is often used dried in China, either rehydrated or ground to powder as a flavoring ingredient (Tai tyau feen). The photo specimen is U. intestinalis, but U. clathrata goes under the same Chinese name. These are long stringy species consisting of very thin walled tubes, but U. lactuca (see above) is also used dried. Conversely, these two species are also used fresh. All these species of Sea Lettuce are important to the Buddhist diet in China, both dried and fresh.

U. intestinalis can grow to about 8 inches long, while U. clathrata can grow to nearly 16 inches long. Both are found worldwide, but U. intestinalis is much more common in temperate regions than tropical, and ventures into the arctic. U. clathrata is common in tropical and subtropical regions, but is very scarce in subarctic regions.

Sea Grapes

This Indo-Pacific seaweed is common in tropical regions but less common in the subtropics and barely ventures into temperate regions at all. It is totally absent from the Atlantic. Sea Grape is now successfully farmed in the Philippines, where it is liked raw with vinegar as a snack, or in a salad with chopped onions, tomato and a dressing of fish sauce and vinegar. It is eaten similarly in Okinawa, Japan. Known to be high in iodine, it has a light pleasant seaweed flavor and a satisfying crunchiness when bitten. The stems are tough and stringy, but small and entirely tolerable (swallow them, you need more fiber anyway).

The photo specimens were packed in salt, sold at a local Philippine market for 2015 US $4.99 for a package weighing about 4 ounces. About half the weight was in salt, but when the seaweed is rinsed and re-hydrated it'll probably weigh about the same. We have included our ubiquitous red kidney bean for scale.

Sponge Seaweed

This coastal seaweed is a siphonous alga, meaning its round branches are composed of a tangle of near microscopic filaments, each filament being a single multinucleate cell. This accounts for its spongy texture. Its branching fronds grow up to about 12 inches long.

Sponge seaweed is very common as a temperate Pacific species from around Japan, but is also found along the Pacific coasts of Canada, California and northern Mexico. Subspecies are found in the eastern North Atlantic, but especially along the Atlantic coast of North America, where it is a serious invasive. One subspecies grows around Australia, New Zealand, South America, the southern tip of Africa, and possibly as far south as Antarctica. Subspecies also exist in small regions of the Mediterranean.   Details and Cooking.   Photo by Flyingdream contributed to the Public Domain .

Chlorella

This single celled algae was, in the 1940s and 1950s expected to, by now, be one of the most important food crops in the world. This did not happen for a number of reasons. Production proved far more expensive than expected, it proved entirely indigestible unless its cell walls were broken down by processing, it proved difficult to make anything from it that you'd actually want to eat, and methods were found to greatly improve output of conventional agricultural products.

Today chlorella is sold mainly as a health food supplement. It has been found effective at removing toxic heavy metals and dioxins from the body. It is also thought effective for treating radiation poisoning, reducing blood pressure and cholesterol, and improving immune function, though these claims are not without contention,   Drawing of Chlorella regularis believed to be in the public domain.

Spirulina

Spirulina is the commercial name for Arthrospira, a Cyanobacteria that forms into spiral threads that can be harvested as pond scum. Spirulina proper is a different bacteria and is not used for food.

This algae was a significant nutrient for the Aztecs and still is for some African tribes, but its commercial potential has been overblown. Wild, unsupportable claims by health food purveyors have brought heavy fines in California, but the claims continue. This is not to say it is not nutritious, it is, containing a fairly balanced protein, many vitamins, minerals and nutritional pigments, as well as fatty acids

The problem here is that all these nutrients can by obtained at much lower cost from other sources. Promoters haven't been able to get spirulina accepted as a general food either, because it looks bad, tastes bad and can be heavily contaminated with insects, copepods (tiny crustaceans) and worse - It's grown in open ponds.

Spirulina has been promoted to ethical vegetarians as a source of Vitamin B12, which they desire to get from non-animal sources (of which there aren't any of useful concentration in nature). It does contain a significant amount of a form of B12 not usable by the human body, but any usable B12 in Spirulina appears to come from insect and copepod contamination (animals, in other words). The more contamination the more B12.   Photo by Joan Simon distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported.

Fat Choy - Black Moss

Not actually a moss, this land dwelling cyanobacteria forms long strands that look like hair. It is harvested in the Gobi Desert and the Qinghai Plateau, but harvesting has been restricted due to resulting erosion. Due to increasing cost, sellers have responded in the time honored Chinese way - by adulterating the product. Real Fat Choy is dark green - the adulterant strands, made from starch, are usually black. Real Fat Choy will stand up to over 30 minutes of simmering, but adulterant strands will disintegrate.   Details and Cooking.