Alaria

Alaria is a seaweed used as a foot item.

It is a dark-green sometimes almost black colour, and has a milder taste than the seaweed the Japanese call "wakame." It turns green when cooked.

It grows with fronds up to 13 feet (4 metres) tall, and 10 inches (25 cm) wide, with a midrib.

It doesn't like water temperatures above 60 F (16 C.) It grows along temperate shores, generally in waters 25 feet (8 metres) deep, but has been found in water up to 115 feet (35 metres) deep.

It is found in areas such as the North Atlantic from Iceland down to the coasts of the UK and Ireland and down to Brittany. It is also in the Pacific, in the Bering Sea, in the Sea of Japan, and along the coast of North America.

Cooking Tips for Alaria

Check for attached shells or hidden pebbles. Soak covered in fresh water for at least 1 hour, or overnight. To use uncooked in salads, soak for at least 12 hours first. It will double in size during soaking.

You can use the water you soaked it in to cook with.

Simmer soaked Alaria for 30 to 40 minutes -- the mid-rib is the part that will need the most cooking. If you cut these out, you can reduce cooking time by 20 minutes. Or, pressure cook soaked Alaria for about 5 minutes.

Alaria can be used in stews.

Taste first before you salt any dish you use it in.

Needs a longer cooking time than wakame.

Recipe Search

Also called:

Alaria esculenta (Scientific Name)

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Alaria, Arame, Kaipen, Laver, Nori, Wakame

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