Aside from instant miso-soup mixes, I do not really have any experience cooking seaweed. In turn, when a family friend dropped off this ingredient at my doorstep at about 1 pm for another cooking challenge, I was not quite sure what to do at first. Given that I have been abroad over the past 7 months, I figured it would be fun to incorporate an international theme into the evening's dishes. Inspiration for the plates below came from a fusion of traditional cultural foods, including Tex-Mex tacos, South America's yucca, Japanese dashi broth and even Greek baklava.
Seaweed Two-Bites:
Deviled Eggs: Hard-boiled egg, stuffed with fresh seaweed salad, seasoned with sesame oil and black and white sesame seeds, served on bed of shaved carrots
Yucca Fries: Boiled yucca slices, accompanied by a seaweed, ginger, and garlic soy sauce, atop fresh nori
Garnished with wasabi
Quinoa Wraps:
A play on Japanese sushi, Tex-Mex tacos, and Chinese mu-shu: round sheet of seaweed, stuffed with a filling of pan-fried quinoa, sautéed onions, shaved carrots, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, served with wasabi and soy sauceSavory Seafood Broth:
A nutritious and flavorful vegetable broth* with tilapia and jumbo prawns*water, assorted seaweed, carrots, celery, white onion, and garlic, simmered for an hour and then strained
Sesame Baklava:
Three layers of nori, agave nectar, and white sesame seeds, chilled and garnished with orange slices
Dinner Guests
