Editor’s note: The theme of Gohan Lab is to help people make simple, tasty “gohan” (meals).

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Our series on dried food has so far covered “dried food of the land,” such as kiriboshi daikon (dried radish strips) and dried shiitake mushrooms.

The final installment will feature a salad that uses a “dried food of the sea,” wakame seaweed.

In Japan, a nation surrounded by the sea, seaweed has been part of the diet since ancient times. Wakame even appears in the "Manyoshu," the oldest existing collection of classical Japanese poetry. After dried cut wakame hit store shelves in the 1970s, it became even more popular.

According to a spokesperson for Riken Vitamin, the Tokyo-based company that developed the product, tea leaves provided them with clues. When the wakame that is dried in a curled state is soaked in water, it loosens up with time. Since it will become soggy if soaked in water for too long, drain after about five minutes.

The dressing is made Korean style. Since the wakame is already somewhat salty, we will only add soy sauce; no extra salt. The addition of grated sesame seed and sesame oil enhances the dressing's richness and flavor. You may even find this becomes a go-to dressing for your salads.

To prevent discoloration, use a modest amount of vinegar. Akiko Watanabe, who supervised the cooking aspect of the recipe and who studied with an expert on Korean cuisine for three years, came up with the amount that strikes a perfect balance.

WAKAME CONSISTENCY DIFFERS

According to Riken Vitamin, most wakame harvested today are cultured. About 70 percent of domestic production comes from the Sanriku region, although some are also imported.

Geographical features and tidal currents affect the quality of wakame. Those harvested in Sanriku, where the Kuroshio and Oyashio currents meet, are fleshy and crisp, while the Naruto wakame grown in the temperate Seto Inland Sea is slick and soft.

Many of the staff of Riken Vitamin are known to use wakame from different areas to suit the dish they are making. Due to the change in climate in recent years, the yield of wakame produced in Hokkaido is increasing.

The cookery science aspect of this week’s recipe was supervised by Keiko Yoshinaga of Riken Vitamin, who conducts research on the health effects of wakame, among other topics.

BASIC COOKING METHOD

(Supervised by Akiko Watanabe in the cooking aspect and Keiko Yoshinaga in the cookery science aspect)

* Ingredients (Serves two)

2 Tbsp dried cut wakame, 2 leaves red leaf lettuce (sani retasu), 1/4 cucumber, 4 cherry tomatoes

For the dressing: 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp vinegar, 1/4 tsp sugar, bit of pepper, 1 Tbsp cooking oil, 1 tsp sesame oil, 2 tsp grated white sesame seed

1. Soak dried wakame in generous amount of water. 2 Tbsp weigh about 4 grams. Check on how it has rehydrated after about 5 minutes (PHOTO A and B).

2. Drain wakame and tightly squeeze out water (PHOTO C).

3. Tear lettuce into bite-size pieces, immerse in water and, when crisp, drain well. Slice cucumber at an angle and cut cherry tomatoes in half.

4. Serve vegetables and wakame on a plate. For an appealing look, arrange the white part of lettuce, red tomato, green cucumber and dark green wakame in a balanced manner. Prepare dressing by mixing ingredients with 1 tsp water in bowl and pour on top just before eating.

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Akiko Watanabe is a cooking expert specializing in Japanese cuisine.
Keiko Yoshinaga is a researcher at Riken Vitamin.

ARRANGED VERSION

Wakame soup

This wakame soup doesn't take long to whip up, and its gentle flavor makes it a perfect breakfast option. Rehydrate 2 Tbsp (4 grams) of dried cut wakame in a generous amount of water. Drain after about 5 minutes and tightly squeeze out the water. Bring 1 1/2 cups water, 1 tsp granular chicken soup stock, 1/2 tsp soy sauce, a dash of pepper, 1/2 tsp sesame oil to a boil in a pot, add wakame and turn off the heat. Check the taste and add bit of salt, if needed. Since boiling after adding the wakame will cause discoloration, cook briefly. For added flavor, fine strips of naganegi green onion or enokidake mushroom can be brought to a quick boil in the pot before adding the wakame.

COOKERY SCIENCE

It has been reported that alginic acid, the source of the slippery touch of wakame and other seaweed, has the effect of restraining the absorption of fat and sugar, as well as the rise of blood pressure. An experiment showed that ingesting wakame (4 grams of rehydrated wakame) before a high-fat meal with deep-fried food led to lower levels of neutral fat and cholesterol than when wakame was not eaten beforehand.