nori

Nori

Nori (海苔^?) is the Japanese name for various edible seaweed species of the red alga Porphyra including most notably P. yezoensis and P. tenera, sometimes called laver ^[1]. Finished products are made by a shredding and rack-drying process that resembles papermaking. Japan, Korea, and China are the current major producers of nori, with total production valued at up to US $2 billion per year.

History

Originally, the term nori was more generic and referred to various kinds of seaweeds including hijiki. One of the oldest descriptions about nori is dated back to around the 8th century. In the Taihō Code enacted in 701, nori was already included in the form of taxation. In Utsubo Monogatari, written around 987, nori was recognized as a common food. The original nori was formed as a paste, and the nori sheet was invented in Asakusa, Edo (contemporary Tokyo), in the Edo period through the method of Japanese paper-making.

In 1867 the word "nori" first appeared in an English-language publication - "A Japanese and English Dictionary," by James C. Hepburn.

The word nori started to be used widely in the United States, and the product (imported in dry form from Japan) became widely available at natural food stores and Asian-American grocery stores starting in the 1960s, due to the influence of the macrobiotic movement, and in the 1970s with the growing number of sushi bars and Japanese restaurants.

Production

Production and processing of nori by current methods is a highly advanced form of agriculture. The biology of Porphyra, although complicated, is well understood, and this knowledge is used to control virtually every step of the production process. Farming takes place in the sea where the Porphyra plants grow attached to nets suspended at the sea surface and where the farmers operate from boats. The plants grow rapidly, requiring about 45 days from "seeding" until the first harvest. Multiple harvests can be taken from a single seeding, typically at about ten-day intervals. Harvesting is accomplished using mechanical harvesters of a variety of configurations. Processing of raw product is mostly accomplished by highly automated machines that accurately duplicate traditional manual processing steps, but with much improved efficiency and consistency. The final product is a paper-thin, black, dried sheet of approximately 18×20 cm and 3 grams in weight.

There are several grades of nori available in the United States. The most common, and least expensive, grades are imported from China, costing about six cents per sheet. At the high end, ranging up to ninety cents per sheet, are "delicate shin-nori (nori from the first of the year's several harvests) cultivated in Ariake Bay, off the island of Kyushu in Japan." ^[2] Like a fine wine Nori available only in Japan can cost up to $50 U.S. per sheet.

In Japan, over 600 square kilometres (230 sq. mi.) of Japanese coastal waters are given to producing 350,000 tonnes (344,470 tons), worth over a billion dollars. China produces about a third of this. ^[3]

Use

Nori is commonly used as a wrap for sushi and onigiri. It is also a common garnish or flavoring in noodle preparations and soups. Nori is most typically toasted prior to consumption ("yaki-nori" in Japanese). A very common and popular secondary product is toasted and flavored nori ("ajitsuke-nori" in Japanese), in which a flavoring mixture (variable, but typically soy sauce, spices and sugar in the Japanese style or sesame oil and salt in the Korean style) is applied in combination with the toasting process. Nori is also eaten by making it into a soy sauce flavored paste noritsukudani (海苔佃煮).

In addition, nori is sometimes used as a form of food decoration.

A related product, prepared from the unrelated green algae Monostroma and Enteromorpha, is called aonori (青海苔 literally "azure nori," although dried aonori is not blue) and is used like herbs on everyday meals like okonomiyaki and yakisoba.

Nori is a source of vitamin A, B, C1, iodine, protein (1/5 of milk <100ml>, 1/5 of an egg), fiber (31.2mg/100g), and carotene. It also contains a great deal of calcium and iron. For example, 100g of yaki-nori has 4.4g of protein, 280mg of calcium, and 11.4mg of iron.

See also

• Mekong weed - river algae often eaten in sheets in Laos
• Laver (seaweed)
• Gim (food)
• Mamenori
• Spam musubi.

External links

• Suria Link Seaplants Handbook
• http://sushi.pro/ingredients/nori.html
• Recipe for Vegetable Nori Rolls
• Description and images of cultivation and harvesting

References

1. ^ Merriam-Webster Dictionary
2. ^ Nori Steps Away From the Sushi - New York Times
3. ^ Thiomas, D. 2002 Seaweeds. The Natural History Museum, London. ISBN 0 565 09175 1