Sea Vegetable
Undaria pinnatifida
A tier
Undaria pinnatifida is wakame—tender green kelp with sweet marine flavour, silky texture in miso soup, and ruffled leaves when rehydrated. Major Japanese, Korean, and Chinese sea vegetable. Also invasive in some non-native waters. Soak dried briefly; add late to soups; salad with sesame-vinegar. Over-soak turns mushy. Species defines commercial wakame.
Track this ingredient
Unit
Characteristics
Preparations
Miso SoupRehydrateSalad
Traits
GreenSilkySilky GreenSoupSpeciesSweet MarineTender
History
JP
Japanese cuisine established wakame as a daily soup and side seaweed.
KR
Korean miyeok culture centred U. pinnatifida in soups and rites.
Global dried wakame trade made the species a pantry standard.