Hijiki seaweed is a brown sea vegetable that grows wild on rocky coastlines especially in Japan, China and Korea. For centuries, it has been a traditional food in Japan but its culinary uses have been adopted in other countries, especially North America. For almost 30 years, it has been sold in natural product stores in the United Kingdom. In the United States, it has been imported in dried form from Japan and widely available at natural food stores and Asian-American grocery outlets. Starting 1970, Japanese restaurants have been established to offer
hijiki dishes, including those from original Japanese recipes. Of all the seaweeds consumed in Japan, hijiki is the most versatile as it is used in many dishes that require slow cooking. In Okinawa, some residents simmer it with soybeans and vegetables following overnight soaking of the seaweed and soybeans.
Hijiki is a rich source of protein, iron, zinc, calcium, iodine and lignans that help fight cancerous diseases. The other nutrients found in the seaweed include Vitamins B1, B2, B3 and B12, beta-carotene, phosphorous, sodium, potassium and fiber. They can be found in
hijiki recipes topped by hijiki with dried tofu and vegetables that create a colorful combination of the seaweed, carrots, parsley and dried tofu that adds concentrated
nutrition and texture to the food. A
hijiki summer salad is also a good way to get mineral-rich seaweed into one’s diet.
Whatever your dish with hijiki, you will find certain health benefits in it. Being rich in minerals, it is said to play a significant role in making thick and shiny hair like that donned by many Japanese. With more calcium than any other seaweed, it is an excellent bone builder that can also help prevent osteoporosis and other diseases of the bone. Being rich in fiber, it helps lower cholesterol and regulates blood sugar levels.
If you want to cook your own meal that includes hijiki, you should follow some simple cooking tips, as follow: (a) Use foods with colors to make a nice-looking contrast to hijiki’s dark brown color; such foods may include carrots, winter squash, and pumpkin to come up with a deep-orange color, (b) Steam broccoli and watercress to make a bright green tone, (c) Top the cold hijiki salad with a rich white tofu dressing sprinkled with thinly crushed green onion that will appeal especially during hot summer days, and (d) Rinse the seaweed carefully to get rid of foreign matters like sand and small shells before soaking it in water.
Hijiki has been found to have certain controversial implications to human health. Results of some tests outside Japan have indicated that levels of inorganic arsenic in hijiki are higher than in other types of seaweed. Inorganic arsenic is identified as a cancer-inciting agent carcinogen; exposure to high levels of it is reportedly linked to gastrointestinal problems like anemia or liver damage. But some food safety agencies have attested that occasional consumption of the sea vegetable is unlikely to cause any health risk. Their findings also indicate that no known illnesses have been linked with consumption of the seaweed. The Japanese government has reported that the average intake of hijiki is only 0.9 gram per day, way below the intake of 4.7 grams that could result in an intake of inorganic arsenic.
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