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By Mary Margaret Chappell Jun 2, 2022

Sea vegetables, or edible seaweed, have been a staple ingredient in Japan, Korea, and China for millennia. Read on to learn more about common types of sea vegetables and how to use them in your kitchen today.

“Sea vegetables” is the culinary term for the different seaweeds used in cooking. They are staple ingredients in Asian cuisines, where dried seaweeds such as wakame, hijiki, kombu, and nori play starring roles in soups, salads, grain dishes, and sushi. These days, sea vegetables are harvested and marketed around the globe, making them accessible to cooks everywhere.

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While each seaweed’s nutritional profile is a little different, all are good sources of iodine, vitamin C, iron, and calcium and contain trace minerals such as magnesium, selenium, and zinc. Recent research has also shown that sea vegetables are a good plant-based source of essential omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Because sea vegetables come from the sea, they are naturally high in sodium. (Wakame is among the sea veggies highest in sodium, while nori is among the lowest.) We recommend enjoying them as a flavor enhancer rather than a substantial source of nutrition.

Edible seaweeds are also high in glutamates, natural compounds that stimulate umami/savoriness, one of the five basic tastes. Umami is often described as an extra sense of deliciousness, and that is exactly what sea vegetables add to dishes. One of the best ways to taste how sea vegetables can enhance the umami of foods is to add a strip of kombu (dried sea kelp) to a pot of beans. The kombu deepens the beans’ natural flavors. Enzymes in kombu help break down some of their starches to make beans creamy-soft but not mushy. Those same enzymes also break down gas-producing raffinose sugars so beans are easy to digest and less likely to cause intestinal complaints such as gas.

Fresh sea vegetables may require some effort to find, but dried seaweeds are readily available in well-stocked supermarkets and Asian groceries. They are also incredibly easy to use. Here’s a rundown of the six most versatile sea vegetables and how to start cooking with them right away.

Purplish-red flakes or sheets that have a nutty, peppery flavor and chewy texture. To rehydrate: Soak 10 minutes in cool water.

Fine, black filaments with a sweet, mushroom-like taste and crunchy-chewy texture. To rehydrate: Soak 30 minutes in warm water.

Dark green seaweed used both as a seasoning and a vegetable. As kombu is dried, it develops a white, powdery bloom that is rich in umami flavor. To rehydrate: Simmer 5 minutes in boiling water.

Thin, papery dark green or black sheets of seaweed with a mild, nutty flavor. Ready to use; no need to rehydrate.

Typically sold as a powdered dietary supplement, spirulina is a blue-green algae with a briny flavor. Ready to use; no need to rehydrate.

Emerald green sheets with a chewy texture and almost meaty flavor. North Atlantic wakame is also called alaria. To rehydrate: Soak 5 to 10 minutes in warm water.

Try one of these healthy plant-based seaweed recipes from Forks Over Knives today.

For more guidance in healthy cooking, check out Forks Meal Planner, FOK’s easy weekly meal-planning tool to keep you on a plant-based path. To learn more about a whole-food, plant-based diet, visit our Plant-Based Primer.

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When Mary Margaret Chappell first started out in the plant-based food world as a writer, editor, and recipe developer, she was a bacon-loving former pastry chef who didn’t think she could ever cook without butter. Fourteen years, four cookbooks, dozens of cooking classes, and hundreds of recipes later, her favorite thing in the world is sharing the tips, techniques, and recipes that show just how easy and delicious whole-food, plant-based cooking can be. The former food editor of Vegetarian Times magazine has done away with her dependency on butter and is honing her skills at baking with natural sweeteners. 

Mary Margaret lives in France, where plant-based eating can often be a challenge, but the fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes available are simply amazing.

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