Japanese Food: Mozuku Seaweed and Mozukusu Recipe

We Japanese often eat seaweed in our daily lives. Especially, Wakame is one of the seaweed most commonly eaten in Japan.

Wakame is used as the main ingredient for various Japanese dishes, including salad, soup, and noodle soup, and even for snacks such as “Kuki Wakame (茎わかめ)“.

Other than Wakame, if I give another example of such edible seaweed widely enjoyed in Japan, we sometimes have dishes made with “Mozuku (もずく)”.

Mozuku (もずく)

A seaweed of the family Spermatochnaceae, Mozuku is taken for food in Japan, where more than 90 percent of Mozuku consumption comes from the ones raised in Okinawa Prefecture.

Mozuku has a brown color in the sea, but when boiled in water, its color turns green. The seaweed has a firm, crunchy texture like Wakame and is somewhat slimy due to the polysaccharide on the surface.

By the way, in Japan, the seaweed Mozuku is often eaten as a form of tempura, suimono, or with a vinegar sauce.

Health Benefits

Packed with vitamins and minerals, Mozuku is a low-calorie healthy food (about 4 kcal per 100 grams).

It contains a soluble fiber called Fucoidan and enhances the moisturizing property of the skin, keeping it supple and radiant.

The component Fucoidan boosts the immune system and is known for its effect of lowering cholesterol and preventing cancer.

How to Prepare

As for the variety, two types of Mozuku products are available in Japan, raw and dried. 

Raw Mozuku

When you use fresh raw Mozuku, lightly washing off the sliminess and salt before cooking or cooking without rinsing, either is okay. It is up to you which method you choose.

Dried Mozuku

If you use dried Mozuku, to rehydrate it, before cooking, you need to soak the seaweed in water for a while (cold water: about 10 to 15 min, hot water: about 3 to 5 min). After that, the volume increases by several tens of times.

Note: these are basic methods, so if there are directions or instructions from the seller, you should follow them.

Mozuku Su Recipe

Lastly, when it comes to Mozuku dishes in Japanese cuisine, “Mozuku Su (もずく酢)” is especially famous and most often eaten in households.

Mozukusu is a simple side dish prepared by dressing the seaweed Mozuku with the traditional Japanese vinegar sauce “Sanbaizu (三杯酢)”.

Specifically, the basic way to make it is first, prepare Mozuku and make Sanbaizu. Then, put the vinegar sauce on the seaweed in a cup. That’s it.

If you want to know how to make Sanbaizu, this article will help.

(Reference Page: Wikipedia モズク )