Seaweeds: Hijiki & Tororo Kombu

Since J didn't need a dinner, I made something he won't miss, rather, he might be relived he wasn't here - Japanese seaweed dish: cooked Hijiki.

Hijiki might look weird as "something to eat" in the US because of its color and shapes, but it is a super food: extremely rich in fiber, tons of calcium and iron, way low calorie. First of all, it's very very very delicious and easy to cook.

I usually cook dried Hijiki in Japanese traditional way: saute with a little of vegetable oil and simmer with Japanese soup stock (or just water), soy sauce, Mirin, sugar. Some vegetable such as carrots and Edamame add variety of taste, texture, and color to this dish.

I can be happy to eat cooked Hijiki with a bowl of steamed rice. Hijiki is just a common food, I mean, nothing special in Japan, but because I rarely eat Hijiki in my current life, so Hijiki has become a fancy dish for me.

I finished Hijiki so quickly with a bowl of rice, and there was still some steamed rice left. I knew how to enjoy the rest of rice - eat with Tororo Kombu, another seaweed. You can just eat this feather-light, flaky, soft, slightly vinegary seaweed directly from a commercial package. It is also nutritional rich - vitamin K, potassium, magnesium, fiber, calcium, etc.

Great yummy seaweeds!