Speaking of Japanese Food...

An old friend recently expressed interest in adding seaweed to her child's diet. She asked me for a few tips and I thought I'd share them here in case anyone else is interested.

1. Find a good Asian market. It doesn't have to be a Japanese market per se. We can usually find a variety of seaweed and miso products at Chinese andKorean markets in Memphis. Actually, you can find some basic seaweed products at any natural foods store, but they are usually more expensive than at an Asian market.

2. The boys' favorite form of seaweed is Nori. Nori is the seaweed used for sushi rolls. You can buy it in various sizes. We have bought big pastic containers filled with individually wrapped snack size Nori and well as industrial sized packs of large sheets of Nori. We give the Nori to the boys as is and they gobble it down, oftentimes in large quantities.


3. The second favorite form of sushi around here is the Nori sprinkle, aka Furikake. Furikake comes in many flavors and can include lots of different vegetables. (Be sure you read the label, because some varieties have MSG.) You sprinkle Furikake like salt or other spices. We usually sprinkle it on white rice or use it to make rice balls. Jiro likes to eat it straight out of the jar. (He'd sprinkle the whole thing in his mouth if we let him.)

4. The third way we serve seaweed around here is in miso soup. (Buy the yellow or white miso and use 1 Tsp per cup of stock.) Wakame, which looks like little squiggles, is the best for miso soup. Once you cook it, it becomes leafy. You'll be surprised at just how big one little sprinkle gets, so don't add too much. (And don't forget to cube up some tofu to throw in the soup too!)

5. Finally, we get rice cakes with tamari and seaweed flavoring at the natural foods store.