Waka Hijiki Sakura (Domestic Shipping Only)

¥500
Freshly harvested -- The crunchy Young HIjiki with Sakura flavor

Hijiki has a very rich and mellow flavor like Wakame seaweed and Kombu (kelp).

Typical black hijiki is boiled for a long time after harvesting and dried. However, this young hijiki is boiled quickly, making it close to its raw state. In addition, we limit the Hijiki sprouts only to those fresh and young, rather than those which have grown large, making the texture crispy and crunchy.

It can serve as both the star and a supporting role on a plate with its strong presence.

“Sakura Hijiki" combines such hijiki with the flavor of Sakura (cherry blossoms). The pure aroma and fresh taste of sakura will fill your mouth with "spring" the moment you put it in your mouth.

After removing the salt, we recommend you to eat it as it is, just like a salad. The best way to use it in cooking is to remove the salt a little bit and use them while they still have a salty taste.

If you want to combine it with other ingredients, sakura goes well with the aroma of ume (Japanese apricot). It can be made into sushi rolls or dressed with cucumbers. If the surrounding salt is kept before removing, it can be used as a cooking salt with sakura flavor.

It is also interesting to combine hijiki with ingredients with similar textures, such as lotus root and kikurage mushrooms. Conversely, it makes a good accent when added to soft ingredients.

Contents: 150g
Shelf life: 3 months

[Important: Remove the salt first before eating.]
After rinsing off the surrounding salt, soak the hijiki in water for 3-7 minutes to remove the salt.

When you finish removing the salt from the water, gently rub the hijiki for a minute as if you are transferring the aroma of the sakura to the hijiki. You will enjoy the aroma of sakura even more. The sakura petal can also be used for cooking.

<Eating Guidlines based on Soaking time >
3 to 4 minutes: For dishes where you want to use the salty taste, or when you want to eat it as it is
5 minutes: For a slightly salty taste.
6 to 7 minutes: For when you want to completely remove the salty taste.

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*In rare cases, natural deposits may appear on the product. This derives from the natural ingredients and does not affect the quality.

*The arsenic contained in this product is below the standard value, and the Food Safety Commission has clearly stated that the current intake of arsenic from food is not considered to be problematic.

*The size of the Hijiki depends on the harvest season. We recommend you cut the Hijiki if it's too long to consume.

*The size of the Sakura petal will depend on the product.

*The Hijiki used in this product is obtained from a habitat shared by shrimp and crabs.

Delivery fee: 900 yen

* Delivery to Hokkaido and Okinawa will be charged +200 yen from each delivery fee.

* For detailed delivery methodsHere

The Hidden Charm of Waka Hijiki

"This is exactly what I call the SEA VEGETABLE"

Navigator: Shui Ishizaka

Shui Ishizaka

Shui Ishizaka, born in Melbourne, raised in Sydney. Winner of the Australian U30 culinary competition "Appetite For Excellence Young Chef of the Year," he took charge of culinary development as sous chef at Tokyo’s INUA restaurant, a two-Michelin-star winner in 2018.

Experimenting in Sea Vegetable’s test kitchen, he has uncovered the previously unknown taste profiles of more than 100 varieties of seaweed.He has also been participating in menu development for this spring’s "Noma Kyoto" pop-up.

The first time I ate a small hijiki of young buds was when I dive into the sea with everyone at the seaweed. Somehow, I thought this texture was "to eat". I felt like I was eating the hijiki itself.

It has a solid texture like a land vegetable and has a crunch. This is exactly the sea vegetables.

Unlike the delicate scent of Sujia Onori, Hijiki did not see the potential as a seasoning. But the scent and texture are very strong. Even a strong cooking method, such as boiling or cooking, remains firmly.

I think Hijiki has a stronger taste among seaweed. If you compare it, the taste is packed in the pipe. It is difficult to add other flavors there, so boil the raw hijiki once.

If the boiling time is long, the crunchy texture will be gone, so boil it quickly to remove the taste of the hijiki. Then, in the process of condensing the taste with salt and salted processing, add other flavors in the gaps born.

Then, various flavored hijiki can be made.

The second flavor of Hijiki was the same idea as "Yuzu Hijiki". By combining the young bud's hijiki, a well -known taste and fragrance, it is easier to accept.

In terms of time, we decided to combine the salted cherry blossom petals that everyone knows, as it will be warm and spring.

I think the salted cherry blossoms are similar to plums. When the plum is pickled with salt, it becomes dried plums. Umeboshi will be wrapped with seaweed when making rice balls. I thought that cherry blossoms and hijiki were deliciously enjoyed so that the taste and aroma of the salty plums fit into the seaweed.

I don't care at all because I haven't used cherry blossoms for cooking. If you put it in cooking, it would be easier to imagine something that matches the scent of plums than cherry blossoms.

There is a warship roll with plum meat on a sprout at a sushi restaurant, but you can use the scent of cherry blossoms as an accent like that, and it is interesting to roll it up with a cherry blossom winding alone because the texture of the hijiki itself is good.

The rest is Ume Kyuri, which is common in izakaya. I think that it is a very good combination for those who like the texture, with the crispy texture of the cucumber and the polyhedic texture.

One of the recommended ways to use Sakura Hijiki is to use it with a slightly sweeter and still salty. Then the dried plum dried will increase further.

Also, the salt used in Shiozura has a scent of hijiki and cherry blossoms, so if you remove the salt before draining salt, add the salt to the dishes and the flavor will stand. It's a waste to wash it off normally.

Most of the scent of cherry blossoms is sweetly used like sweets and Japanese sweets, but I think it's more possible to use it because it's not sweet.

If you eat in the spring, cherry blossoms are the same every year, it will not be interesting.

When it's warm, everyone will look at the cherry blossoms and feel happy. At that time, cook cherry blossoms.

It was delicious again this year, let's challenge another dish next year. I think it's good to have spring with that kind of thought.

Recipes

Here are some simple recipes that can be made at home

Check our Cook Pad

Sushi chef Daisuke Okada's blog introducing "Sakura Hijiki"

Here are some recommendations on how to eat and use Sakura Hijiki by our partner chef, Daisuke Okada

Click here for the blog