Kombu

Kombu or konbu (Japanese昆布) in Korea dashima or Haidai Chinese海带, is edible kelp, which has found widespread use in Northeast Asia as a food. By far the largest part of the kombu is from the type Saccharina japonica (syn.: Laminaria japonica, Japanese真 昆布, ma - kombu "Genuine Kombu ").

About 90 % of Japanese kombu come from cultivated cultivation, most of it is harvested off the coast of Hokkaido in quite cold water, where even today comes from the best Kombu. Cultures, there are also southward to the Seto Inland Sea. Still further south the water is too warm.

Kombu has in comparison to almost all other foods, and even in comparison to other edible seaweed, a much higher iodine content.

History

The earliest records appear in the imperial chronicle Shoku Nihon Shoki (Japanese続 日本 纪) in the year 797 as a gift. Wood panels, called Mokkan testify that kombu was supplied under the ritsuryō legal system of the then Ebisu ( Ezo ) said indigenous people in North ( current Tōhoku ) as a tax levy to the court of Nara. However, it is believed that the use of much further back, probably to the Jomon period. Since Kombu decomposes readily, but found no archaeological evidence more. In the Muromachi period, a newly developed dry method, the kombu for more than to just make a few days if stored and allowed the algae became an important commodity in today's Tohoku region or the ' wild ' Ezo (now Hokkaidō ). In this time also first kombu trading houses and dealers guilds. The latter are found for example in the ancient capital of Kyoto today in so-called kombu machi -ya (Japanese昆布 屋 町) south of the Imperial Palace, and many of the business houses of this period are still in Kombugeschäft active, eg the Matsumae -ya (Japanese松 前 屋). In the Edo period, as Hokkaido colonized by the Japanese and shipping lines were organized, the use of kombu spread throughout Japan. Kombu was at that time a so-called tawaramono (Japanese俵 物), ie a monopolized by the shogunate export goods ( to China ) to obtain foreign currency. Here functioned particularly the economically ailing Principality of Satsuma as an organizer to sell kombu over the kombu guild ( kombu -za jap昆布 座) from Naha to China. The traditional cuisine of Okinawa used since that time very often kombu, here the consumption is still the highest, although there Kombu does not occur naturally. Only in the 20th century, they found a way to cultivate the previously harvested only from wild stocks kombu, and it was cheap and available everywhere.

Use

Kombu is usually sold as dried or dried flakes ( Oboro kombu ). It is used in Japanese cuisine, especially as one of the three main units of the Dashi, a soup base. For this purpose, either a strip of fresh kombu is simmered and served in soup or broth prepared with powder of dried kombu. A piece of kombu is added to the cooking water for sushi rice for flavoring. The consumption of fresh kombu is also possible.

Also widespread is the sweet and sour insertion of 5-6 cm long and 2 cm wide strips, which are served as a snack with green tea.

In the Korean and Chinese cuisine Kombu is added when cooking beans to enrich the food with nutrients and improve digestibility.

In Japan, a salty -tasting tea is made from kombu and other ingredients, which is called Kombucha and is considered typical hospital fare. What is sold in the West under the name of Kombucha, has however nothing to do, does not contain kombu and has probably got its name from a confusion.

In Germany traded Kombu is provided with a warning since the high iodine content for residents of traditional iodine deficiency areas is problematic. The Federal Institute for Consumer Health Protection recommends a very controlled consumption jodreicher algae such as kombu and their preparations.

Other types

In addition to the "real " ma - kombu further Saccharina types are used; the most important are:

• Karafuto - kombu (桦 太 昆布" Sakhalin- kombu " ), the sugar kelp ( Saccharina latissima )
• Mitsuishi (三 石 昆布), Hidaka (日 高 昆布) or dashi - kombu (出 汁 昆布) Saccharina angustata, commonly used for dashi
• Naga - kombu (长 昆布) Saccharina longissima
• Rishiri kombu (利 尻 昆布) Saccharina ochotensis, commonly used for broth