Seaweed
I found these unusual, frilly light and tasty seaweeds at the Bogo market. Didn’t catch the appropriate local name (had no ballpen) but they seemed to lump them all together with other seaweeds such as guso and lato. If I am not mistaken it was something like “saang bulaklak” and they said it only grew on a particular type of specimen sea shell. It looked exactly like a seaweed I had recently enjoyed at the Tsukiji restaurant on Pasay Road so I was rather excited to see it at the market. In Manila, a top quality mixed seaweed salad fluffed up with lettuce and a good sesame seed dressing can run upwards of PHP650 for a tiny bowl, so how I wished I had brought the other ingredients for this salad as I would have had these for breakfast as well!
Pressed to describe the shell on which this seaweed thrived, they hunted one down in the market and found this one, a scorpio conch or close relative. Apparently, the seaweed grows on the shell and it has the dual purpose of camouflaging the shell and being ambulant in the seas, giving the seaweed more chances to catch nutrients flowing by… isn’t that cool?
I saw another vendor with this basin of seaweed (color intensified by a flash, where photos above were taken in natural light), who said it was the same as the variety up top, but this one had slightly wider bits that made me think they weren’t exactly the same. Combined with other seaweeds in the market, this was one of the finest displays of edible seaweed I have ever seen in a local market. If any of you know the real name of the seaweed up top, I would appreicate it if you leave me a comment, thanks!
your feature on edible seaweeds is truly amazing and so informative.
April 29th, 2008what is the “shelf life” of seaweeds? how best to extend that “shelf life”? it would be wonderful to have them available in manila.
My mother being Ilocano, is an avid fan of seaweed salads. All she needed to do was pour boiling water on them just to ensure they are clean. Some salt and a crushed tomato or two. Damn right we were made to eat those things. Great with fried fish.
April 29th, 2008the first picture looks like what is called ‘gulaman’ in iloilo-like roberto’s mom, it’s soaked in boiling water first-good as salad with tomatoes, onions, little minced ginger, and green mangoes (vinegar,etc)
in the korean store nearby, they sell dried seaweeds, which is soaked in water for a few minutes and made into soups or salads. then there’s the nori for sushi..they are all delicious.
April 29th, 2008Wow! I rarely come across seaweed in our market and am only familiar with the “Lato” and “Arosep” (I think these are one and the same…???)
MM, it makes me think that with seas surrounding our beautiful islands, it is a wonder that we have never made an effort to process these things much like the Japanese do with their nori.
Gee, MM, thanks to you I am suddenly craving sushi and sashimi for breakfast! :)
G’day to ‘ya!
April 29th, 2008agree with natie. in iloilo we call it gulaman.
April 29th, 2008lived in tawi-tawi for some time. it’s the seaweed capital of the philippines, i think. it’s really something if your host prepares agal-agal (or agar-agar) for you. they’d rather sell the seaweeds for export than eat it.
Based on the topmost picture, I think it’s what people here in Hawaii call “limu” or “lipoa” (a type of limu). They’re mixed with sashimi-grade raw cubed ahi and tossed with soy sauce, chili pepper flakes, salt, maybe sesame oil, and maybe sweet white Maui onions. The appetizer is called “poke” (po-ke).
Another way it’s prepared by Filipinos here (I’ve only tasted this in Filipino households, but I’m not sure if they’re prepared in other households) is to pickle them. The pickle juice has the same sugar/vinegar ratio as papaya atsara. Then just add sliced onions and let it pickle.
Hope that helps!
April 29th, 2008Yes, this fine guso is just blanched in boiling water because when boiled, it melts and turns to gulaman.
April 29th, 2008We just prepare it as any kinilaw, vinegar, tomatoes, onions, ginger, sili espada, sliced and add some sauteeed “hipon” fermented shrimps. Some add coco milk.
As to its shelf life, I just keep it refrigerated for up to 3 days if I can’t prepare them right away.
Quillene, I think the Tagalog/Bisaya “lato” is the same as the Ilocano “ar-arosep”. Or at least that’s what I was brought up to believe.
I love seaweed. I can “papak” seaweed and be perfectly happy.
As far as I remember, there are two types of lato (the ones that look like green grapes) - the big ones are a paler green while the smaller ones are a more intense (emerald to Sprite-bottle) green. Then there’s “guso” that looks like a tree-branch that comes in pale green, dark green and slightly red. Then there’s the hair-like “buhok” (like MM’s photo up top but with wider strands and a pale green to a reddish-brown in color) and the wide “gulamang-dagat”, which I believe is brown kelp. All these fresh seaweed we “piskag” (I think “himay” is the closest Tagalog approximation - to remove the inedible-looking bits) then blanch in boiling water, drain and mix with any or all of the following: any type of vinegar, salt, fish sauce, crushed heirlooms, finely minced red onion, grated ginger, diced green mango, pomelo.
I once made a pomelo-lato-lettuce salad with white wine vinegar and a bit of EVOO and some black sesame seeds (leftover from sushi-making). Not spectacular, weird even but good with seared tuna steaks.
I usually use seaweed within 3 hours of purchase. When I can’t do that, I “piskag” and place in a colander lined with moist paper towels and cover with another moist paper towel. Keeps in the vegetable crisper for about 48 hours.
Drying seaweeds, I think, preserves it best. I love seasoned nori. I even saw a product in Cash and Carry called Big Sheet - fried nori with spices. Nice snack.
April 29th, 2008Dear Sir or Madam,
We are Vietdelta Industrial Corp., which deals in exporting a wide variety of VietNam Seaweed. Our products are high quality with competitive price and suitable to difference markets.
Our products:
Kappaphycus Alvarezii
Gracilaria Verrucosa
Sargassum spp
If you have interest in our products, do not hesitate to contact us for more information. We hope that we can cooperate together and keep our long relationship.
We look forward to hearing from your reply soon.
Thanks and best regards.
Mss Thanh
Sale Department
Viet Delta Industrial Co.Ltd
20/5Dinh Bo Linh Str , Ward 24
Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City
Viet Nam
Tel : +84.8.5115601/03
Fax:+84.8.5114834
skype: marianguyen83
email:thanh@vdelta.com.vn
or maria@vdelta.com.vn
April 29th, 2008