Okahijiki (aka land seaweed)
During my last visit to our lovely local purveyor of organic fruit and vegetables I was offered a special treat, a sample of a new plant they were experimenting with. “Okahijiki – you’ll never remember the name, but it’s also called land seaweed”.
True to prediction, my ability to do an internet search and find out what to do with my find was severely hampered by the fact I had indeed forgotten its name, and even more so any notions of how to spell it. Eventually, I managed to work my way back to rediscovering okahijiki via tales of plains and Western movies: despite the literal meaning of the name being land hijiki (hijiki being seaweed), okahijiki is a member of the salsola family, or tumbleweeds.
It’s a bit of stunner to look at; vibrant green with subtle purple streaks and that fantastic springiness that you get with succulent plants (a quality often to be found in the garden but not often in edible plants). A first tentative taste of a sprig of raw okahijiki reveals a surprising texture, like biting into a stem and expecting something fibrous and bit stringy, but getting something crispy and juicy instead. The taste is also on the unexpected side. First bite is a mustard, peppery taste. So far so good, this seems tasty, reminds me a little of rocket … wow, where did that salt come from!?!
My first cooking experiment with okahijiki was to add a little to a stir fry with all of the usual veg and sauces. Turns out this isn't the best thing to do as despite it’s distinctive flavour it seems to get easily overpowered when it is a minor ingredient. Second time lucky (and the method I would recommend) is to cut the okahijiki into 2 – 3 inch lengths, saute briefly, splash a few spoonfuls of water into the pan and put a lid on to steam it for a few minutes. Serve while still crisp - it's distinctive salty aftertaste makes it a natural friend for a nice piece of fish (we had trout fillets).
I was very taken with my okahijiki sample - the flavour is distinctive but its real draw in my opinion is that crunchy, crispy texture. In terms of recipes, aside from the simple treatment suggested here the only other significant use I have found mention of seems to be for Japanese-style pickled okahijiki. Next time I manage to get hold of some then I’d love to have a go at this stunning looking sushi at batish.net.
Seeds seem to be available in a few places and knowing that it has been grown a mere couple of miles away from my house makes it very tempting to try and grow some okahijiki in the garden. Sadly I am really not very green fingered at all so I'd be delighted to hear from anybody who has tried to grow some themselves about how they got on, or similarly if you know any good okahijiki recipes!
This post is my entry for the fabulous weekly Weekend Herb Blogging event, hosted this week by Kalyn at Kalyn's Kitchen.
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Wow, fabulous entry. I ve never seen this or heard of it before. I love finding out about new plants like this, and this sounds like it would be very fun to try to grow. If it grows wild, it would probably not be that hard to grow in a garden. Look forward to hearing if anyone has tried growing it.
Sounds intriguing. The mix of crispiness and salt really appeals to me. Have no idea where to locate this up here. I do know where some samphire grows though. Will try your steaming method with that.
WOw, I've not heard of okahijiki. But, I remembered seeing it on TV, some korean cooking show where they use this to stir-fry with heaps of garlic and sesame oil. I wish I can find them in the States.
Thanks for introducing a new herb to me. Sounds very interesting. I have to seek it here, because I´m very interested in substituting salt. :)
Kalyn - I'm glad I managed to find something new to you. Not at easy thing to achieve now that WHB is so popular :-)
Hi Helen, I suspect that the plant is fairly high in sodium so not great if you are avoiding salt for health reasons. A samphire recipe I saw suggested blanching it and then reviving in cold water to remove some of the salt so you could try that technique if you ever find any okahijiki!
Wendy - lucky you, having a secret samphire source. I reckon most of the same cooking methods will work so I've been keeping an eye out for samphire recipes to try out on it next time.
MeltingWok - stir frying with garlic and sesame oil sounds great. I think my mistake with the stir fry was to use lots of other ingredients at the same time when I should have just left it simple!
I definitely need to try this. Thanks for the great tips Sophie!
Evening! Just had some of this tonight for the first time and it was great. A woman I work with made some and brought it in. She recommended dropping a bunch into boiling water for 45 seconds to a minute, then immediately removing it and rinsing under cold water. Shake out/off the excess water and gently squeeze the bunch to remove more (don't crush it in your hands, just gently squeeze it to remove a bit more liquid). In the meantime, put some regular shoyu (not the "light" variety due to the high salt content) in a glass bowl (two or three tablespoons, perhaps) and a dash / squirt of Japanese mustard paste to taste and whisk together. All of this is to taste, of course, but you don't want to overpower this plant with mustard. Add the okahijiki to the bowl and toss to cover. Cover bowl with cling wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes or so until very well chilled. Remove the okahijiki from the sauce/marinade and gently shake to remove the excess. Place in a small chilled bowl and serve/eat immediately. Really nice. The texture is crunchy, while the salty and spicy marinade bring out a lot of the flavor -- great food to have on a hot, muggy Osaka night! Cheers!
I have okahijiki growing in my Suffolk coastal garden in abundance! I bought my seeds from Moles Seeds in Colchester. Sowed in March in cold frame. Germination was erractic and growth slow to begin with. Then the rain started and the plants shot up.... We pick the shoots young and use them raw in salads, older parts can be cooked like samphire. (Blanch 1 min max and refresh). Fab with fish, brilliant in sushi. Also flash fry, drain and dip in light soy as a snack.
It is fascinating to find this because I grew Okahijiki last year as an ingredient for my salad bags. It is something of a surpise or mystery ingredient, with its unusual crunchiness and hint of salt flavour. I am also just writing about it in my new book 'Salad Leaves For All Seasons', coming out March 2008.
Neighbors needed to know what it was. Raw foods friends identified it, I ate it raw,liked it, and now I'll use it both in Korean food, and in Japanese.
My husband bought a plant from Yorkshire Lavender whilst we were on holiday last week. I had absolutely no idea what to do with it, so was delighted to find this website. I was also pleased to see that Charles Dowding has included it in his new book as I have just ordered a copy!