Week 14 - Seaweed

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I had sushi for lunch yesterday and it got the idea to try and make something with seaweed. While I've had it before in things like, well, sushi, I've never had it as a main part of a dish. There were many different kinds of seaweeds at the store and most of the packages were written entirely in some Asian language that I couldn't identify. I just grabbed a random package of sliced seaweed which may be the wakame variety, but maybe not.

Seaweed is super healthy and cheap. It is used in a large variety of foods, from soups to salads to sushi. It is high in fiber and has one of the highest nutrient to calorie ratios. It is filled with omega 3 fatty acids, calcium, iodine, thiamine and niacin. In the wakame variety, it has a compound called fucoxanthin. This compound has been shown in laboratory studies to increase the amount of the fat burning protein UCP1 in mice and has the potential to do the same in humans (although this hasn't been studies yet). It is also used for blood purification, intestinal strength, skin, hair, reproductive organs and menstrual regularity. To paraphrase, this is really good stuff.

I put the seaweed into a large bowl to rehydrate. Almost immediately it began expanding in volume. I made a dressing by combining 2/3 cup rice vinegar, 2 teaspoons of sesame oil, a little peanut oil, 1 tablespoon of sugar, some salt and some hot pepper flakes and whisking. After about a half hour, I drained the seaweed and squeezed all of the excess water out. I then mixed the dressing in and plated a bit of it. Then I added some shrimp and salmon that I broiled with a little salt, pepper and garlic powder.

The verdict: It was actually really good! I should have cut the seaweed up a little smaller before mixing it with the dressing, but that wasn't a big deal. Plus, one $0.99 package made enough for 4 huge servings. I plan to buy more seaweed of different varieties and figure out new ways to use it. I would recommend you try it too.

Week 13 - Indian Bitter Melon

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I was looking for something sweet, possibly a fruit of some kind, but I wasn't impressed with the selection this week. Instead I saw this package of strange looking spikey green things labeled "White Cucumber" and had to buy it. I did a Google search to find recipes and I didn't find too many sites with white cucumber and the ones that I did, didn't have anything that looked like these. After further searching, I believe that these are Indian bitter melons.

Bitter melons are common in Asian cuisine, but it is also used for its medicinal properties. Apparently they help stimulate digestion, however they are also known to make heartburn and ulcers worse. There is also the promise that compounds found in these melons may help fight HIV.

I sliced the squash up and tried a piece. It was disgustingly bitter. I then soaked it in salt water to help reduce the bitterness like many websites recommended. After a day of soaking I tried a slice and it was still extremely bitter. The soaking did nothing. I fried them with red onion, garlic, soy sauce and hot Thai sesame oil and served them over rice. The verdict: They were still pretty bitter, but as I ate them it became more tolerable. The rice also helped dilute the bitterness somewhat. I probably wouldn't get these again. Try to ignore the dried out piece of chicken that I served next to this dish.