Hijiki is something I grew up eating in Japan and often served as an employee meal at Tanpopo Noodle Shop. Hijiki is a type of seaweed harvested at sea and frequently appears on the Japanese dinner table. Despite its black and stick-like appearance, hijiki is packed with nutrients such as dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals, iron, calcium, and magnesium
Unfortunately, there is a split in the world when it comes to whether or not you should be eating hijiki or not. The food agencies of the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom advise against consuming hijiki. It is known to contain a potentially toxic inorganic arsenic (from rocks and sand in the sea). You’ll have to make your own choices as to what is best for you. However, hijiki has been a part of the Japanese diet for centuries, and for me, it is a comfort food I grew up eating.
A popular way for me to prepare hijiki at Tanpopo was by cooking vegetables, tofu, and meat (pork, chicken, or soybeans) and serving it as a meal on its own.
Hijiki, Vegetable, Bacon Salad
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Dried Hijiki
- 80 grams bacon cut into small pieces
- 1 medium carrots cut into small strips
- 2 sheets aburaage
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, divided
- 1/2 cup dashi
- 1/4 cup mirin Japanese sweet wine
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
Instructions
- To rehydrate hijiki, combine dried hijiki and 1 cup of water in a bowl. Let the dried hijiki soak up the water for about 30 minutes and you should have about 1 cup of hijiki in total.
- Bring a pot of water to boil and add hijiki. Blanch the hijiki then drain it on a colander. This process helps remove scums and other unwanted flavors.
- Bring another small pot of water to boil. De-grease the aburaage by blanching them in the boiling water. Drain aburaage in a colander to drain excess water. Once cooled, cut into lengthwise then to crosswise into strips.
- Heat a sauté pan and add ½ tablespoon of vegetable oil. Cook bacon until crisp then takes it out on a paper towel to drain excess oil.
- On the same braising pan, add ½ vegetable oil and sautee carrots for 30 seconds or so. Add hijiki and sautee a bit so it is coated with salad oil.
- Add dashi, soy sauce, and mirin and give it a good stir or two then add aburaage. Cook hijiki until carrots are cooked through and the liquid is almost gone.
- Add bacon to hijiki and cook for another minute or so. Turn the heat off. At this point, there should be very little liquid left in the pan. Drizzle hijiki with sesame oil. Serve at room temperature or cold.
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