Umami from the Sea: Sea Palm-Kale Salad and Uni Handrolls #SundayFunday

Today the Sunday Funday group is celebrating umami. Thanks to Stacy of Food Lust People Love, Sue of Palatable Pastime, Rebekah of Making Miracles, and Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm for coordinating this low-stress group. Today Sue is hosting and she's given us the prompt of making recipes with umami. Then she shared this link to help guide our umami explorations: Getting to Know Umami Powerhouses. Here's the #SundayFunday umami line-up...

• Chorizo Chickpea Tomato Pasta by Food Lust People Love
• Easy Vegan Pad Thai by Cook with Renu
• Fried Chicken Wings - Korean Style by Sneha's Recipe 
• Patatas Bravas by Mayuri's Jikoni
• Steaks with Gouda Sauce by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Tomato and Blue Cheese Salad by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Umami Bomb Tomato Sauce by Making Miracles
• Umami from the Sea: Sea Palm-Kale Salad and Uni Handrolls by Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Umami

I was already pretty familiar with umami, but I'll dive into it a little bit more here. If you ask someone what the basic tastes are, and they are of a certain age, they'll reply: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. They might even be able to show you, on their tongue, where the flavor receptors for those flavors are. But in the 1980s a fifth taste group was recognized: umami which translates to something along the links of savory or meaty. It's a flavor that is present in foods that contain a high level of the amino acid glutamate such as parmesan cheese, seaweed, miso paste, and mushrooms.

For this event, I decided to focus on umami from the sea - recipes  that include seaweed.

Sea Palm-Kale Salad

This dish has special significance to me. My grandmother, my dad's mom, used to make the most amazing seaweed salad. I remember when I went to Oahu with her as a child, we would drive to Ewa Beach and pick seaweed. She would clean it and make a fresh seaweed salad with it. It has soy and miso in addition to the seaweed, so lots and lots of umami.

Ingredients

• 2 ounces dried sea palm
• 1 bunch lacinto kale
• 1 cup organic cherry tomatoes
• 1 Tablespoon red miso paste
• 1 Tablespoon tamari or soy sauce
• 1 Tablespoon mirin
• 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• zest from 1 organic lemon
• black sesame seeds for garnish

Procedure

Rehydrate sea palm by placing the dried seaweed in a large mixing bowl. Submerge it in cool water and let stand for 15 minutes. Drain.

Cut lacinto into thin strips and blanch. Drain and set aside. Slice tomatoes in half lengthwise. Place the sea palm, kale, and tomatoes into a large mixing bowl.

Whisk together the miso, tamari, mirin, sesame oil, lemon juice, and lemon zest into a dressing. Pour the dressing over the salad. Toss to coat. Garnish with black sesame seeds.

Uni (Sea Urchin) Handrolls 

We are huge fans of uni - sea urchin. So, when we have a chance to get it, we always do. I added some on to our CSF delivery from Real Good Fish the other week and asked D how we should prepare it. Last time we got them, we did a Sea Urchin Crostini and his Urchin Soup is a perpetual favorite. We settled on a simple handroll that would let the urchin shine.

Ingredients makes 4 handrolls

• 2 sheets of nori (seaweed sheets), cut in half lengthwise
• 1 cooked rice (I used organic Jade Pearl rice)
• 2 Tablespoon rice vinegar
• 8 pieces of uni

Procedure

While the rice is still hot, mix in the rice vinegar.

Place the nori, shiny side down, on a work space. Place 1/4 cups rice on the nori - in one corner at a 45 degree angle. Lay 1 or 2 pieces of urchin on the rice.

Okay, I drew a little diagram for you. Don't laugh!

The bottom right corner will be the top of your cone. Fold the top right corner down over the rice and filling. Then keep rolling until it is in the shape of a cone. Lay the seam side down. The moisture from the rice will seal the cone. If not, just moisten the edge a tiny bit and press down.

Repeat with the other three pieces. Serve immediately.

Well that's a wrap on our umami event. We'll be back next week as Stacy hosts us in sharing a childhood favorite. I'll have to give that some thought. Stay tuned.