What is wakame? What does wakame look like?

Undaria pinnatifida is also called "sea mustard" or "wakame". It belongs to Phaeophyceae, Pterygaceae. You may not know that in the "Compendium of Materia Medica" of the Song Dynasty in my country, Undaria pinnatifida was called "cai cai cai", which was pronounced as "wakame cai". The nutrition of selected Undaria pinnatifida is comparable to that of Spirulina, and it is called "natural spirulina" in Japan. Do you like it?

Contents of this article

1. What is wakame?

2. What does wakame look like?

3. How to cook wakame

What is wakame?

Undaria belongs to the brown algae family, the class of brown algae, the order of Laminaria, the family of Pterygium, and the genus of Undaria. It is a plant of the seaweed family, with green leaves in feathery lobes, thinner than those of kelp, and looks like a large broken sunflower fan, and also like a skirt, hence the name. Undaria was called Cai 莙荙 in the "Compendium of Materia Medica" of the Song Dynasty in my country, and the pronunciation became Undaria. There are two types: light dried and salty dried. Undaria is a seaweed of the Laminaria family of brown algae, known as a vegetable in the sea. In addition to natural reproduction, artificial breeding has begun. The naturally grown Undaria in Lushun has the best quality due to its superior geographical location. The nutrition of the selected Undaria is comparable to that of Spirulina, and is called "natural Spirulina" by Japan.

What does wakame look like?

Undaria pinnatifida is also called "sea mustard" or "wakame". It belongs to Phaeophyceae, Pterygaceae. The algae is brown-green, with leaves 1-2m high and 50-100cm wide. It is divided into blade, petiole and holdfast. The leaves are similar to banana, with obvious midrib and pinnate-shaped edges. The petiole is flat and cylindrical, and when mature, many overlapping and wrinkled sporophylls are formed on the edge of the petiole, with sporangia on them. There are mucus glands. The rhizoids are forked and branched. There is obvious unequal alternation of generations. It grows in warm oceans. It is distributed in the northern coastal areas of China and Shengsi, Zhejiang. It has been cultivated on a large scale in the northern coastal areas. It is used for food and as an industrial raw material.

The spore body of Undaria pinnatifida is yellow-brown and looks like a broken banana leaf fan. It is 1-2 meters high and 50-100 mm wide. It is clearly differentiated into three parts: the holdfast, the petiole and the leaf blade. The holdfast is composed of forked branched rhizomes. The end of the rhizomes is slightly thicker and fixed on the reef. The petiole is slightly long and oblate, with a slight bulge in the middle. There is a midrib extending from the petiole in the middle of the leaf blade, and pinnate lobes are formed on both sides. There are many small black spots on the leaf surface, which are the openings of the mucous gland cells to the surface.

The internal structure is very similar to that of kelp. On both sides of the growing sporophyte stalk, there are sporophylls with overlapping folds like fungus. When mature, sporangium is formed on the sporophylls. The life history of Undaria pinnatifida is very similar to that of kelp, and it also alternates generations. However, the growth period of sporophyte is shorter than that of kelp, which is nearly one year (kelp grows for nearly two years), while the growth period of gametophyte is longer than that of kelp, which is about one month (kelp gametophyte generally grows for only two weeks).

How to cook wakame

Ingredients: 300g wakame, 5g white sesame seeds, 1 tablespoon homemade chili oil, 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon sugar

1. Prepare the first generation of wakame

2. Soak for at least 3 hours in advance and change the water frequently

3. Cut the wakame into thin strips

4. Boil water in a pot, pour in the shredded wakame and blanch it. Do not boil it, just blanch it and pick it up.

5. Rinse with cold water repeatedly until it is completely cool. Cover the soaked wakame with plastic wrap and refrigerate for half an hour.

6. Take out the refrigerated wakame from the refrigerator, add balsamic vinegar, sugar, chili oil, mix well, and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

7. It's done. It's so crispy. Watch this dish on your phone.

Tips

1. Do not blanch the wakame for too long, otherwise mucus will be produced and the taste will be affected. Put it in the refrigerator to make it crisper. If you don't have time, you can leave it in.

2. Wakame is very salty, so be sure to change the water repeatedly when soaking

3. Don’t add salt when mixing, otherwise it will be very salty