Kelp powder is a relatively new addition to my pantry but it's quickly becoming a staple. Whether I'm making vegan-friendly soup, kimchi, mock fish sauce, or even popcorn or salad dressing, I'm loving this subtly salty, umami-rich ingredient.
Kelp seaweed is commonly used in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean cuisines, and as a vegetarian I have been using it to add depth to Asian dishes where I omit fish- or shrimp-derived ingredients. I bet it would be great in this vegan chickpea of the sea tuna sandwich, as well. Although the flavor evokes the ocean, it is not overwhelming, and many people simply use kelp powder as a salt substitute.
I found this kelp powder in the salt aisle at a Korean grocery store. Kelp powder is also available from some herb merchants and health food shops, as it's a good source of vitamins, minerals and trace elements, including iodine, calcium, and iron. One could also make a DIY version by grinding dried kombu sheets.
Have you ever cooked with kelp powder?
Related: Umami for Vegans
(Image: Emily Ho)
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You can also make it by grinding dried anchovies (no heads and guts). Lots of koreans use anchovies to make a soup base and its just easier using the powder instead of having to fish out the fish later (no pun intended)!
I dont think ground up fish and seaweed powder are the same thing...
@meebs: yes, because grinding up fish is exactly the same thing as ground up sewaweed and just as vegan. I mean apart from it not being the same thing in general, the whole article is not about kelp powder in general but kelp powder as a vegan alternative to non-vegan stuff like fish sauce.....
Fish are not part of a vegan diet--ground or otherwise.
No its fine you guys, there are no heads or guts...
I recently tried out kelp powder for the first time, when making this recipe from Whole Foods: mock tuna salad. It was really tasty, and the kelp powder really does add that oceany flavor.