In the heat of these last days of summer, it seems smart to have a cool meal. Why not use ocean salad to make more of a meal?
Ocean salad is the great marketing name for a combination of seaweeds seasoned with sesame oil, sesame seeds and other flavorings.You’ll find the fluorescent-green, stringy condiment in the refrigerated seafood section of the market.
Enjoy it plain out of the container or as a topping for thin Japanese somen noodles. Boil the noodles in salted water for only about 3 minutes, then cool in iced water and top with ocean salad. Add a sauce of store-bought somen or ponzu sauce and enjoy your cold meal.
I enjoy ponzu sauce with its tartness of yuzu, a form of citrus that’s like a cross between lemon and lime. For an extra kick, I often I buy a version with chili peppers.
Add more color with a few slices of pink and white kamaboko fishcake or toasted sesame seeds.
Even simpler — garnish a block of cold, soft tofu with ocean salad. Add a thin sauce and enjoy.
Keep both versions vegetarian by garnishing with cucumber strips instead of the fish cake. Keep cool.
OCEAN SALAD WITH SOMEN NOODLES
By Lynette Lo Tom
1 tablespoon salt
8 ounces somen noodles (3 bundles)
1/4 cup ocean salad
1/8 to 1/4 cup of ponzu or somen sauce (often called tsuru)
>> Garnishes: Kamaboko fish cake, cucumber strips or toasted sesame seeds
In a pot, bring 5 cups of water to a boil. Add salt and cook noodles until tender, about 3 minutes.
Drain and cool in iced water, then drain, arrange in a bowl, top with ocean salad, sauce to taste and desired garnishes. Serves 3.
>> Variation: Serve ocean salad over cubes of soft tofu, drizzled with somen or ponzu sauce. Garnish with kamaboko fish cake, cucumber strips, toasted sesame seeds or thin dried strips of chili peppers.
Approximate nutritional information, per serving (without garnishes: 450 calories, 3 g fat, no saturated fat or cholesterol, greater than 2,400 mg sodium, 86 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 2 g sugar, 13 g protein.
”Easy Kine” features simple dishes that start with commercially prepared ingredients. Lynette Lo Tom is excited to hear your tried-and-true suggestions. Contact her at 275-3004, email lynette@brightlightcookery.com or via instagram at @brightlightcookery. Nutritional analysis by Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S.
