We’re calling it: one of the big food trends this year will be an increase in the use of seaweed (and kelp, a species of seaweed) in kitchens both professional and domestic. But what’s behind the love for this humble ingredient?

Why the hype around seaweed and kelp?

It would be hard to find a better ambassador for kelp and seaweed than Roushanna Gray, founder of Veld and Sea in the Cape Peninsula, who offers wild foraging workshops and dinners. She cannot help but wax lyrical about the wonders of this resource. And her enthusiasm is contagious. “Did you know we have more than 900 species of seaweed in South Africa?” she asks. “It’s a hugely underutilised and overlooked source of food, flavour and medicine. The key is to change people’s perceptions: we need to start looking at them as sea vegetables, instead of seaweeds.”

There are a couple of reasons why global appreciation for seaweed is growing by the day. Firstly, it’s highly useful as a culinary ingredient. “It contains natural glutamic acid, like a natural MSG,” explains Roushanna. “In cooking, it acts as a flavour enhancer and releases that magical fifth flavour, umami. So, whether you’re making something savoury, or something sweet, adding kelp will help increase its deliciousness.”

 

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Secondly, it’s becoming increasingly clear that seaweed offers huge health benefits. “It is a total superfood of the sea,” says Roushanna. It boasts loads of essential vitamins (such as vitamins A, K and B12), minerals (such as potassium, magnesium, zinc and iron) and antioxidants.

Thirdly, there’s the sustainability angle. If harvested correctly, seaweed and kelp are regenerative. Seaweed draws carbon from the atmosphere and supplies us with oxygen, much more than trees do, in fact. If we can sustainably manage (and increase) our seaweed forests, it will provide humans with a nutritious, sustainable food source in an increasingly food-insecure world, and will also benefit the environment as a way of fighting climate change. Roushanna is convinced that the future lies in seaweed farming.

Abigail Donnelly, TASTE’s food director, says that she would “love to see more seaweed available in our supermarkets”. She has delicious memories of the huge array of seaweed for sale in supermarkets in Tokyo. She loves adding seaweed to salads instead of lettuce “for that textural element”, and for a punch of umami flavour to ramen.

Who’s cooking with seaweed?

Since South Africa is blessed with such a long coastline – and a stellar cast of forward-thinking chefs – you’ll find plenty of local restaurants adding seaweed and kelp to their menus. At award-winning Wolfgat in Paternoster, chef Kobus van der Merwe has been dazzling diners with the umami-rich flavours of seaweed for years (see one of his recipes below).

Then there’s the aptly named Seebamboes, a small 16-seater eatery located above Galjoen restaurant in Cape Town. Under the helm of chef Adel Hughes, Seebamboes celebrates the unique connection between land and sea with a seaweed-focused menu. Adel particularly enjoys klipkombers, which she uses in a variety of ways – in a seaweed chimichurri, a dashi broth, and even baked as a chip as part of a welcome snack. She also uses baked seeslaai (sea lettuce) as a salt rim for her surf ’n turf cocktail, and sprinkles baked sea lettuce over an ice-cream sandwich for dessert.

“I like the way it tastes,” says Adel of her love for seaweed. But it’s about more than that. The experience of harvesting it is a big drawcard. “I feel connected to the ocean,” she explains. “I’m always looking at the tide charts and the moon phases. Some days, it’s challenging to pick! But most of the time, it brings a lot of joy.”

 

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So, how do you use seaweed in the kitchen?

Before we get to the kitchen, there are some guidelines for foraging for seaweed. The four big rules, according to Roushanna, are:

1. You need a permit for collecting molluscs.
2. Check that you’re not foraging in a marine-protected area.
3. Be sure the ocean you’re picking from is not polluted.
4. Cut (with a pair of scissors or a knife) only one-third of the seaweeds in summer months.

And, of course, you’ll also need to read up on which types and parts of seaweed are safe to consume!

Roushanna’s personal favourite is a species of kelp called Ecklonia maxima. “If I had to choose to eat just one seaweed, that would be it. It’s the most sustainable, it grows really quickly, and if you’re just picking the fronds, you harvest regeneratively.”

As for cooking seaweed, she explains that it’s too fibrous to eat raw (and the iodine content is too high), so you really do need to cook it. “Cook it just as you would cook pasta, but for perhaps ten minutes longer. Adding a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar will also help tenderise it. After that, you can cut it into whatever shape or form you need – glass noodles, or sheets for lasagne or ravioli.” Roushanna also loves using it for a dashi broth, or in ramen.

“If you have leftover seaweed, you can dry it (sundried is best) and store it in a sealed container. I view it as the ‘bay leaf of the sea’. Use it to add flavour and nutrients to whatever you’re cooking.”

Keen to try it yourself?

Crisp, golden fries meet the ocean’s umami in our seaweed fries, seasoned with nori salt for a bold, savoury twist on a classic favourite.

seaweed fries recipe 

For a delicious vegetarian salad, this shredded tofu-and-crispy kale salad is bursting with umami, thanks to the addition of dried nori:

Shredded tofu-and-crispy kale salad recipe

Graduated to harvesting your own? Well done! Try chef Kobus van der Merwe’s simple but spectacular springbok loin with seaweed cream:

Springbok and klipkombers recipe