86 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA 



Agar and Other Oriental Seaweed Industries 



Seaweeds are also extensively eaten along the sea- 

 coast in nearly all Oriental countries. Seaweeds are 

 harvested in large quantities by the Chinese, who 

 have devised a multitude of instruments for securing 

 the algae from the sea bottom. They prepare jellies 

 by cooking seaweeds and use them for making 

 puddings, cakes, and candies. Seaweeds are used to 

 flavor their soup, rice, fish, and many other dishes. 

 Many seaweeds are eaten as fresh vegetables, and 

 some are preserved by drying. 



The Hawaiians, like the Japanese and Chinese, are 

 very fond of all sorts of seaweed, which they call 

 limu. They eat forty species of algae regularly and 

 occasionally cook about thirty others. Limu is eaten 

 both raw and cooked. Sometimes it is boiled with 

 squid or some other devil-fish, thus producing a jelly 

 of which the Hawaiians are very fond. They some- 

 times preserve the algae in about the same way in 

 which we make sauerkraut from cabbage; the sea- 

 weeds are broken, pounded, and chopped into small 

 pieces, then salted and preserved in calabashes or 

 glass jars. Much seaweed is also preserved by salting 

 and binding it with leaves. 



Seaweeds are popular foods in the islands of the 

 Indian Archipelago and all around the coasts of 

 Australasia. Agar, or seaweed isinglass, is exten- 

 sively used in every part of the Orient for culinary 

 and confectionery purposes. Delicious jellies, jams, 

 candies, beverages, and many attractive dishes are 

 prepared from it. 



