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Nori, the delicious dark-green sheets of edible seaweed that often wrapped around your sushi. Nori has rich natural umami flavor from the seaweed, even without adding additives from the manufacturing process. This time we will tell you many things about nori, how nutritious it is, and nori recipes that you must try!

What is Nori?

Nori is a traditional Japanese food used in various dishes, including rice balls, sushi, and even noodles such as ramen.

Nori (written as 海苔 or just のり in Japanese) is dried and pressed sheets of edible seaweed. It is also often translated in English as “laver”.

Nori took form of green or dark green thin sheets of seaweed, and it is made from species of Porphyra/Pyropia especially Pyropia tenera and Pyropia yezoensis (many species of Porphyra have recently been reclassified as Pyropia).

The seaweed made for nori can naturally grow on sea rocks and attached to other seaweeds. But it can be commercially grown on nets that are seeded onshore in tanks and are taken out to sea when they are ready. Then, if the seaweed has grown to about 15 cm, it finally can be harvested. The harvest time varies depending on the production area, but it is held from late October to May of the following year.

After the seaweed is harvested, then it’s washed with fresh water and put into a machine to be shredded into smaller size. Then the seaweed is poured into a machine that will press the seaweed (similar to papermaking machine) which allows it to drain. Then it is dried into form of paper-like sheets over a heated surface.

You can find nori in several forms. There are the nori sheets in big and small size, shredded nori, seasoned nori, and nori furikake. You can eat seasoned nori as a snack!

In Japanese foods, nori is used in various dishes. The most common is for wrapping onigiri/rice balls and sushi. But there are many other ways to use nori which we will tell you in later section!

What Does Nori Taste Like?

Although nori’s flavor is depended on its quality, but in general it will have umami flavor with a hint of salt and sweetness. The texture range from crispy to a little bit chewy.

“Umami” flavor has become the a worldwide language. Well-known components that make umami flavor include inosinic acid contained in dried bonito/katsuobushi, guanylic acid contained in shiitake mushrooms, and glutamic acid contained in kelp/konbu.

These umami components are found in various foods such as cheese and tomatoes. Among them, nori has all of inosinic acid, guanylic acid, and glutamic acid. Therefore, the umami flavor in nori is great. Many sources said that there is no other natural food like nori.

To experience the best umami flavor and crispy texture of nori, make sure you choose the good quality nori!

Recommended High-Quality Nori

Homemade Nori Sushi Rolls Recipe

After you know about what is nori and how nori tastes like, now we want to tell you about how to use nori.

One famous dish to make with nori is sushi rolls. For you who are familiar with Japanese foods, if you think about sushi, you’ll immediately think about nori, and vice versa.

So here we will tell you about how to make sushi rolls with nori at home, and then in the next section we will tell you about other dish that can be combined with nori.

It’s very easy to make sushi rolls at home! You can choose any filling that you like, such as crab stick, egg, cucumber, etc.

Easy Nori Sushi Rolls Recipe

Sushi roll recipe with nori that you can easily make at home.

You can choose your favorite ingredients for the filling!

In the Nori Recipes section, we also write tamagoyaki recipe that you can use for your sushi filling.

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Servings rolls

Ingredients

450 grams Rice cooked
3 sheets Nori or Grilled Nori
75 ml Sushi Vinegar 5 tbsp
6 pieces Tuna strip or crab stick 2 pieces for each roll
3 slices Tamagoyaki 1 slice for each roll
Cucumber Appropriate amount

Instructions

Pour sushi vinegar on freshly cooked rice, and mix them by doing 'slicing' movement with rice paddle.
Spread a bamboo rolling mat or cooking sheet, place the nori vertically with the shiny side down on it. Then spread vinegared rice evenly. Leave about 3cm strip of the nori sheet uncovered on the top.
Place the fillings (strips of tuna strip/crab stick, tamagoyaki, and cucumber) in a line until near edge of the nori sheet so that they sticks out from the edge. Make sure not to overfill the nori.
Hold the ingredients with your index finger and forefinger in both hands, tuck your thumbs underneath the bamboo mat/cooking sheet, then roll the bamboo mat and the nori sheet forward with slight pressure. Roll slowly so that the sushi is rolled evenly, and make sure that the fillings are fully covered with the rice and the nori sheet.
Wet the 3cm uncovered part of the nori sheet by wetting your fingers with cool water. Complete the rolling up of nori sheet with the bamboo mat/cooking sheet by bringing the uncovered part of the nori at the top to stick with the the back of the nori.
Place the sushi roll on a cutting board and first cut it in half with a sharp knife. Then, put the sushi halves beside each other and cut them into small slices. To cut the sushi roll smoothly, put the knife under cold water before and after cutting.
After you cut it, arrange sushi on a plate and serve it with soy sauce. You can also add wasabi and pickled ginger if you want. Then, your sushi rolls is ready to eat!

Notes

You can choose any other fillings you like that goes well with sushi like avocado, chicken, and beef. For vegan sushi rolls, you can use ingredients like cucumber, avocado, tofu, etc. You can also add wasabi in the filling if you like.

Other Ways to Use Nori

Other than sushi rolls, there are many dishes that you can eat or make with nori.

Before eating, it is recommended to add a little heat to the nori. It will soften and the aroma will be enhanced.

Slowly add heat (using a small lighter or low heat from the stove) on the back side of nori, the one with the slightly coarse surface, from far away then closely until the nori turns dark green evenly.

Eat with White Rice

You can always eat nori with rice. There is this famous Japanese food called onigiri which is a rice balls with various fillings wrapped in nori.

Enjoy Nori with A Meal Set

You can enjoy nori with a Japanese or regular meal set. Nori is suitable for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Add Nori to Your Lunch Box

Adding nori to your lunch box is a good way to enjoy your lunch! You can try Japanese-style lunch box or bento like in the article below!

Japanese Bento Box

A Glance Into the Inside and Out of the Bento Box 【A Glance Into the Inside and Out of the Bento Box】 From the inside, bento box can have many different kind of looks which one might feel amazed, mesmerize...

As a Topping for Salad

Cut nori into small pieces or use shredded nori and put it on your favorite salad!

As a Topping for Ramen and Noodles

Put sheets of nori as it is, cut nori into small pieces, or use shredded nori then put it on your ramen, udon, or your other favorite noodles!

For Teriyaki and Fried Food Accents

You can eat nori together with teriyaki or other fried foods. It will be more delicious!

Eat Nori as a Snack

You can eat nori just as it is as a snack. With its low calories and many nutrients, nori will be a delicious healthy snack.

You can eat any nori for snack, but it will be more tasty if you choose the seasoned one with small size.

Delicious Nori Recipes

Knowing how “umami” the nori taste, you must want to make dishes with nori. Thus, we want to tell you nori recipes that you have to try before we tell you about how nori has many health benefits! Here are some easy recipes with nori that you can make at home.