Is wakame, as a sea vegetable, the same as sea cabbage? Price per jin and differences from kelp
Wakame, also known as undaria and sea mustard, is a common type of seaweed in the ocean, rich in vitamins and various mineral elements, and is deeply loved by people. It is quite common in South Korea, so is wakame the same as sea cabbage? How much does it generally cost per jin? And what is the difference from kelp?
The scientific name of wakame is sea cabbage. South Koreans eat a lot of it. It is a kind of seaweed, green in color, usually cut into small sections, with a stem in the middle and wavy leaf edges on both sides. If left for a long time, it will also fade to a greenish-brown color. Generally, Korean side dish sellers like to buy this kind of thing, because it easily turns brown during processing, so a little green food coloring is usually added to dye it green again. I like to eat it cold dressed with sauce, and it is also good in hot pot. Its color is similar to kelp, about 4-5 cm wide, 3-4 mm thick, quite long, and usually cut into sections.
Latest price:
One ton is 2000 jin, 2000 yuan per ton, which equals 1 yuan per jin. This is for good-quality, salted wakame. Prices only rise a bit when everyone is stockpiling and goods are nearly out of stock, so the specific price still depends on the market in each place.
Differences from kelp:
1. Kelp is an edible seaweed loved by the people of our country. Kelp is a band-shaped body and is divided into three parts: the holdfast, the stipe and the blade. The holdfast is branched and root-like, and in the sea it serves to anchor the plant body. The stipe has no branches, is cylindrical or flattened, and connects the holdfast and the blade. The blade grows at the top of the stipe, does not split, has no midrib, and is flat and band-shaped. This is usually the kelp we commonly eat.
2. Wakame is also a common edible seaweed. Its difference from kelp lies in the blade being deeply split and skirt-like in shape, hence the name wakame. Like kelp, wakame is also a large brown alga. The thallus of wakame is brown and about 2 m long.
3. The young wakame is very similar to young kelp, but after growing up its appearance is clearly different from kelp. Wakame looks like a large torn palm-leaf fan, and also very much like a skirt ribbon, so it is called wakame. The thallus of wakame can be divided into three parts: the blade, the stipe and the root-like structure. The stipe of wakame is flattened and cylindrical, and on both sides there grow things shaped like wood ear mushrooms. These are the sporophylls of wakame, the places specially producing sporangia, and the sporangia contain spores. The blade of wakame has an obvious midrib, and the edges are pinnately split. Wakame can tolerate relatively high water temperatures, so it grows very well in seawater with warm currents. Wakame is distributed along the coasts of various places in our country, with the Shengsi sea area having the most. Wakame is an annual brown alga, can be eaten, and can also be used to extract industrial raw materials.
Which of the two is better?
1. Benefits of wakame: Kelp contains a large amount of iodine, and iodine is the main substance for thyroid synthesis. If the human body lacks iodine, it will suffer from “goiter”, that is, hypothyroidism, so kelp is the best food for people with low thyroid function. Kelp also contains a large amount of mannitol, and mannitol has a diuretic and swelling-reducing effect, and can help prevent and treat kidney failure, senile edema, drug poisoning, and so on. Mannitol works together with iodine, potassium, nicotinic acid, and others, and has relatively good effects on preventing and treating arteriosclerosis, high blood pressure, chronic bronchitis, chronic hepatitis, anemia, edema and other diseases. The high-quality protein and unsaturated fatty acids in kelp have a certain preventive and therapeutic effect on heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.
2. Benefits of kelp: Wakame also contains more iodine than kelp, and in addition is rich in trace elements such as amino acids and crude fiber, which is extremely beneficial to children's bone and intellectual development. Wakame also has the characteristics of high nutrition and low calories, and easily achieves the effects of weight loss, clearing the intestines, protecting the skin and delaying aging, making it a dish loved by many women.