SEAWEED INDUSTRIES <>F JAPAN. 



153 



{a) The dried pieces just mentioned are sometimes pulverized and put through a 

 fine wire sieve like ;i flour sieve, yielding ;i slightly greenish or grayish flour. A 



white and still finer powder is made from the deeper layers of the frond. The pow- 

 dered preparations are named saimatsu (finely powdered) kombu. Such powders are 

 sometimes compressed into small cakes of various shapes and coated with sugar. 



(//) A form of kombu known as cha (tea) kombu is prepared by taking fronds 

 which have been subjected to the first scraping- process, reducing' them to shreds in 

 the usual way by planing and, after drying, cutting the shreds into half inch lengths 

 comparable to the rolled leaves of green tea. 



FOOD QUALITIES OF KOMBU. 



Kombu enters into the dietary of every Japanese family, and is one of the stand- 

 ard foods of the country, the various preparations having different flavors and being 

 used for different purposes. The green-dyed and shredded kombu is cooked with 

 meats, soups, etc.. and is also served as a vegetable. Strip- of the dried untreated 

 fronds are cooked with soups, fish, and vegetables, for the purpose of imparting a 

 flavor. Fronds after being scraped once are cut in f-inch squares and boiled in soy- 

 bean sauce, which treatment preserves them for a long time, and these pieces make 

 an excellent relish, tasting like caviare or anchovy sauce. The Japanese name, tsuhu- 

 demi, means "boiled with soy-bean sauce." The tea kombu and the green and white 

 powdered kombu are used as tea, boiling water being poured on a small quantity of 

 the preparation and a palatable drink resulting. In Osaka the pulpy or pasty residue 

 is eaten. The powders are also used in sauces, in soups, and on rice, like curry 

 powder. These are put on the market in bottles or tins holding about one-quarter 

 of a pound. 



The kombu cut into small pieces and dried is very palatable, whether eaten dry 

 or after immersion in hot water, having a nutty flavor. The crisp, sugared strips are 

 excellent. Filmy sheet kombu is cooked with sauces, soups, and other dishes, like 

 the dried, untreated strips, to impart flavor. 



The chemical composition of various species of seaweed used in the manu- 

 facture of kombu is shown in the following table. The specimens were collected 

 in the Sea of Hokkaido, and the analyses were made by Prof. K. Oshima, of the 

 Agricultural College of Sapporo. The figures are calculated for loo parts of 

 original samples of kombu: 



Species. 



Water. 



Protein. 



Flit. 



Soluble 



non-nitrn- 



genous 



matter. 



Fiber. 



Ish. 



/■. i cent. I 1 ' r <■- "/. 



Laminaria angustata 22.823 5. 191 



longissima 25.944 6.724 



japunica 22. ;«;>. 4.959 



ochotensis 23.986 6.646 



religiosa 22.754 4.722 



fragile 23-100 4.027 



A rthrothamnus birldus 24. 4« 



Pt I C( "t. 



1, 520 



1.730 



1.590 



.860 



.820 

 . l>>4 

 .738 



17.031 

 31.896 

 17. 193 

 II 924 

 42.845 

 ii. 385 

 15 572 



Pt , cent. 



i .I'.' 

 6. 41". 

 5. 834 

 i. 026 



hi. mi; 



7.152 

 6. 137 



/'< I CI Tit. 



18.686 



27. 2911 

 17.156 

 20.308 

 18.633 



