more stewed seaweed
Feb 15, 2010 I have written about my love of cooking with seaweed before: how startling it is to stir a pot that includes cream, lemon and – oh wait, that IS seaweed, I forgot.
I was not intentionally fishing for more seaweed uses, but then I was flipping through the back pages of my favorite old school Irish cookbook and came across a recipe for a seaweed throat syrup, just as my throat was feeling scratchy. So I it cooked it up and holy moley, it was fiercely bad. So bad that I felt it must work for people to have choked this stuff down for years. The hot tea smells and tastes like a humid aquarium, flavored ever-so-slightly with lemon and honey.
I couldn’t make it through the big mug, so I let it cool and now have this syrupy concoction in the fridge. Somehow, it tastes a little better cooled. And the seaweed makes a natural syrup so I can take it by the spoonful, even though it looks a little like frog spawn or sci-fi protoplasm.
Now that I have really enticed you, here is the recipe, adapted from The Ballymaloe Cookbook by Myrtle Allen:
Soak ¼ cup carrageen moss for 10 minutes in a cup of water. Remove, discarding water. Add moss to a saucepan with 1¼ cups fresh cold water and bring to a boil slowly. Strain and add honey and fresh lemon juice to taste. Drink hot or cool and add a couple tablespoons to tea, or take straight spoonfuls from the bottle.
seaweed, throat syrup in make
Reader Comments (3)
where do you find the moss? did you hunt it down? and I didn't realize that eating seaweeds was Irish thing. guess its just being resourceful...
I've tried japanese seaweed tea once when I was feeling a bit sick. Gosh, if that was anything like what you drank then you are a real trooper for drinking that much.
Connie: I picked up the moss while in Ireland from this company:
http://www.lo-tide.com
But I have also seen it at hard-core health food stores here in the states.