Seaweed: Health benefits and recipes

Packed with micronutrients, minerals and antioxidants, seaweed can be eaten in a thousand ways. Green algae is rich in vitamin C and iron; red algae in vitamin B and protein; and brown in calcium.

In flakes or sheets: 

These are the easiest to work with. “We can sprinkle them over vegetables: dulse, with its red tints and little woody notes, goes well with tomato; sea ​​lettuce, with its fresh green flavour, is suitable in salads. You can also use it as a garnish on fish,” says Olivier Bourtourault, from the Algaïa society in France.

He advises to try some wakamole, obtained by mixing a tablespoon of wakame (Japanese seaweed), an avocado, oil, pepper, garlic and salt. As for the one-minute tartar, add flakes of seaweed to a mixture of salad, shrimp or prawns, lemon juice, oil and a juicy fruit like tomato, to obtain the correct consistency. Alternatively, sprinkle over some Japanese nori, which can be easily cut with scissors, to perk up a common potato or carrot salad.

Whole: 

Breton kombu, rich in monosodium glutamate, enhances the flavour of legumes (eg.: lentils, beans) when it is added to the water before boiling. Sea cabbage (or royal kombu), with its frills, makes a very aesthetically pleasing addition to fish or vegetables.

As an infusion or snack: 

For your daily iodine intake, Anne Brunner, author of Algues: saveurs marines a cuisinier (La Plage) (Algae: Marine flavours to cook), thought up two uses of algae for the less adventurous: a refreshing infusion made ​​with a teaspoon of sea lettuce flakes and a pinch of black tea; and for the hot days ahead, a summer snack made with a sheet of nori cut in half, toasted 1 minute in a hot dry pan and crumbled over half a melon or honeydew.

Where can we find it?

Thankfully, seaweed is not a rare commodity in the region. All leading supermarkets and grocery stores should stock them in the various forms mentioned above.

Discover some of our seaweed-based recipes: 

– Oriental seaweed vinaigrette walnut salad

– Soba noodles with seaweed and walnuts

– Salmon maki with dill

– Spring rolls – maki style