is the Japanese name for various edible
seaweedSeaweedSeaweed has antioxidents. Is a loose colloquial term encompassing macroscopic, multicellular, benthic marine algae. The term includes some members of the red, brown and green algae...
species of the red alga
PorphyraPorphyra is a foliose red algal genus of laver, comprising approximately 70 species. It grows in the intertidal zone, typically between the upper intertidal zone and the splash zone in cold waters of temperate oceans. In East Asia, it is used to produce the sea vegetable products nori and gim ,...
including most notably
P. yezoensis and
P. tenera, sometimes called
laverLaver is an edible seaweed that has a high mineral salt content, particularly iodine and iron. It is used for making laverbread, a traditional Welsh dish. Laver is common around the west coast of Britain and east coast of Ireland along the Irish Sea. Laver is unique among seaweeds because it is...
. The term
nori is also commonly used to refer to the food products created from these "sea
vegetableA vegetable is an edible plant or part of a plant. However, the word is not scientific, and its meaning is largely based on culinary and cultural tradition. Therefore the application of the word is somewhat arbitrary and subjective. For example, some people consider mushrooms to be vegetables,...
s", similar to the Korean gim. Finished products are made by a shredding and rack-drying process that resembles
papermakingPapermaking is the process of making paper, a substance which is used ubiquitously today for writing and packaging.In papermaking a dilute suspension of fibers in water is drained through a screen, so that a mat of randomly interwoven fibers is laid down. Water is removed from this mat of fibers by...
. Japan, Korea, and China are the current major producers of nori, with total production valued at up to US $2 billion per year.
History
Originally, the term
nori was more generic and referred to various kinds of seaweeds including
hijikiis a brown sea vegetable growing wild on rocky coastlines around Japan, Korea, and China. Its two names, which are examples of ateji, mean deer-tail grass and sheep-nest grass respectively....
. One of the oldest descriptions about nori is dated back to around the 8th century. In the
Taihō CodeThe was an administrative reorganization enacted in 701 in Japan, at the end of the Asuka period. It was historically one of the . It was compiled at the direction of Prince Osakabe, Fujiwara no Fuhito and Awata no Mahito at the request of Emperor Mommu and, like many other developments in the...
enacted in 701, nori was already included in the form of taxation. In
Utsubo Monogatariis a late 10th century Japanese story. It is Japan's oldest full-length narrative.-Composition:The author is unknown. Minamoto no Shitagō is cited as a likely candidate; however, it may have had multiple authors spanning a number of years. The text is referenced in number of later works such as...
, written around 987, nori was recognized as a common food. The original nori was formed as a paste, and the nori sheet was invented in
Asakusais a district in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan, most famous for the Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. There are several more temples in Asakusa, as well as various festivals.- History :...
,
Edo, literally: bay-door, "estuary", ), also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...
(contemporary Tokyo), in the
Edo periodThe , or , is a division of Japanese history running from 1603 to 1868 and is the premodern era. The period marks the governance of the Edo or Tokugawa shogunate, which was officially established in 1603 by the first Edo shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. The period ended with the Meiji Restoration, the...
through the method of
Japanese paper-makingis a type of paper made in Japan. Washi is commonly made using fibers from the bark of the gampi tree, the mitsumata shrub , or the paper mulberry, but also can be made using bamboo, hemp, rice, and wheat...
.
In 1867 the word "nori" first appeared in an English-language publication - "A Japanese and English Dictionary," by James C. Hepburn.
The word nori started to be used widely in the United States, and the product (imported in dry form from Japan) became widely available at natural food stores and Asian-American grocery stores starting in the 1960s, due to the influence of the macrobiotic movement, and in the 1970s with the growing number of sushi bars and Japanese restaurants.
Production
Production and processing of nori by current methods is a highly advanced form of agriculture. The biology of
Porphyra, although complicated, is well understood, and this knowledge is used to control virtually every step of the production process. Farming takes place in the sea where the
Porphyra plants grow attached to nets suspended at the sea surface and where the farmers operate from boats. The plants grow rapidly, requiring about 45 days from "seeding" until the first harvest. Multiple harvests can be taken from a single seeding, typically at about ten-day intervals. Harvesting is accomplished using mechanical harvesters of a variety of configurations. Processing of raw product is mostly accomplished by highly automated machines that accurately duplicate traditional manual processing steps, but with much improved efficiency and consistency. The final product is a paper-thin, black, dried sheet of approximately 18×20 cm and 3 grams in weight.
There are several grades of nori available in the United States. The most common, and least expensive, grades are imported from China, costing about six cents per sheet. At the high end, ranging up to ninety cents per sheet, are "delicate shin-nori (nori from the first of the year's several harvests) cultivated in Ariake Bay, off the island of Kyushu in Japan." Like a fine wine Nori available only in Japan can cost up to $50 U.S. per sheet.
In Japan, over 600 square kilometres (230 sq. mi.) of Japanese coastal waters are given to producing 350,000 tonnes (344,470 tons), worth over a billion dollars.
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
produces about a third of this.
Use
Nori is commonly used as a wrap for
sushiIn Japanese cuisine, ' is vinegar rice, usually topped with other ingredients, such as fish. In spelling sushi its first letter s is replaced with z when a prefix is attached, as in nigirizushi, due to consonant mutation called rendaku in Japanese.Sliced raw fish alone is called sashimi, as...
and
onigiri, also known as or rice ball, is a Japanese food made from white rice formed into triangular or oval shape and often wrapped in nori . Traditionally, an onigiri is filled with pickled ume , salted salmon, katsuobushi, kombu, tarako, or any other salty or sour ingredient as a preservative...
. It is also a common garnish or flavoring in noodle preparations and soups. Nori is most typically toasted prior to consumption ("yaki-nori" in Japanese). A very common and popular secondary product is toasted and flavored nori ("ajitsuke-nori" in Japanese), in which a flavoring mixture (variable, but typically soy sauce, spices and sugar in the Japanese style or sesame oil and salt in the Korean style) is applied in combination with the toasting process. Nori is also eaten by making it into a soy sauce flavored paste
noritsukudani .
In addition, nori is sometimes used as a form of food decoration.
A related product, prepared from the unrelated green algae
Monostroma and
Enteromorpha, is called
aonori, also known as green laver, is a type of edible green seaweed, including species from the genera Monostroma and Enteromorpha of Ulvaceae. It is commercially cultivated in some bay areas in Japan, such as Ise Bay...
( literally "azure nori," although dried aonori is not blue) and is used like
herbA herb is a plant that is valued for flavor, scent, or other qualities. Herbs are used in cooking, as medicines, and for spiritual purposes....
s on everyday meals like
okonomiyakiis a Japanese savoury pancake containing a variety of ingredients. The name is derived from the word okonomi, meaning "what you like" or "what you want", and yaki meaning "grilled" or "cooked" . Okonomiyaki is mainly associated with Kansai or Hiroshima areas of Japan, but is widely available...
and
yakisoba', literally "fried noodles", is a dish often sold at festivals in Japan, but originates in China. The dish was derived by the Chinese from the traditional chow mein, but has been more heavily integrated into Japanese cuisine like ramen...
.
Nori is a source of iron, calcium, vitamin A, B, C1, iodine, protein (1/5 of milk <100ml>, 1/5 of an egg), fiber (31.2mg/100g), and carotene. It also contains a great deal of calcium and iron. For example, 100g of yaki-nori has 4.4g of protein, 280mg of calcium, and 11.4mg of iron.
External links