Healthy Hijiki Nimono Recipe (Simmered Hijiki Seaweed salad)

Hijiki no nimono （ひじきの煮物）

What kind of dish is Hijiki no nimono ⁇

hijiki=ひじき　simmerd dish=煮物

Hijiki seaweed seasoned with soy sauce and sugar. Simmered Hijiki seaweed can be said to represent home cooking in Japan.

It is often sold as a side dish in supermarkets. It is also a standard lunch box menu.

I always make a lot and mix it with rice, make it into a salad, or use it as an ingredient for croquettes.

Check out the recipe for hijiki salad here. This is my favorite salad!　👉　Hijiki seaweed salad with lotus root

Hijiki is low in calories but contains a lot of minerals such as calcium, iron and magnesium.

In the past, it was a representative food rich in iron, but in modern times, iron pots are not used as often, so the iron content is lower than before.

However, it is a very suitable food for supplementing dietary fiber and calcium.

What kind of food is Hijiki ??

There are two types of hijiki: dried hijiki and nama hijiki.

”nama” originally means ”raw”.　However, the nama hijiki sold in supermarkets is dried hijiki that has been rehydrated. Nama hijiki is sometimes sold in cans.

Dried hijiki is rehydrated in water and then cooked.

There is no need to soak nama hijiki and canned hijiki in water, but since the seaside odor remains, you should wash them several times before cooking.

All of them need to be heated once.

I recommend using nama hijiki. Dried hijiki has hard fibers, but nama hijiki is soft and fragrant.

There are two manufacturing methods, the Ise method and the Boshu method, but over 80% of the products use the Ise method.

1. Ise method (sun-dried and steam-dried, all in stainless steel pots) 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　→　After drying the harvested hijiki, boil or steam it.
2. Boshu method (steam-dried, boiled-dry, stainless steel pot/iron pot)　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　→　Boil or steam the harvested hijiki.

It has been reported in the literature that Hijiki contains a higher concentration of inorganic arsenic than other foods.

Inorganic arsenic is water-soluble, so about 60% of it can be removed by soaking or washing with water.Furthermore, it is said that nearly 80% of the dirt can be removed by washing with hot water.

In a survey based on Japanese dietary culture, there have been no reports of adverse health effects such as arsenic poisoning caused by eating hijiki at normal intake levels.

The best way to reconstitute dried hijiki is to soak it in water at 20 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes in an amount 40 times the weight of the dried hijiki.

NUTRITION FACTS of Healthy Hijiki Nimono Recipe (Simmered Hijiki Seaweed)

52.5kcal Protein 2.3g Fat 1.3g Carbs 8.2g Salt Equivalent 0.8g

INGREDIENTS for Healthy Hijiki Nimono Recipe (Simmered Hijiki Seaweed) (5SERVINGS)

• Dried shiitake mushrooms 3g
  • Water 150g
• Nama hijiki 150g
• Carrots 40g
• Fish cakes (satsumaage) 25g :You can also use fried tofu, chikuwa, or pork instead.
  • Sesame oil 2g
• ☆Dark soy sauce 25g
• ☆Sugar 10g
• ☆Mirin 15g
• ☆Sake 10g
• Frozen edamame 50g {Boiled soybeans can also be substituted.}

Healthy Hijiki Nimono Recipe (Simmered Hijiki Seaweed) COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Dried shiitake mushrooms should be soaked in water the day before. If you don’t have time, soak it in hot water for about an hour.

• Wash the nama hijiki under running water. (If using dried hijiki, soak in water for 5 minutes.)
• Drain the hijiki.
• Wash the carrots, peel them with a peeler, and cut them into thin strips.
• Cut the satsumaage into 1cm pieces.
• Slice the softened dried shiitake mushrooms into thin strips.
• Heat sesame oil in a frying pan.
• Fry the hijiki, carrots, and shiitake mushrooms.
• Add the water the dried shiitake mushrooms were soaked in, soy sauce, sugar, mirin, and sake.
• When the water has evaporated, add the washed edamame and satsumaage, turn off the heat, and let cool.

The reason for adding satsumaage at the end is to avoid the situation where the satsumaage absorbs the seasoning and the seasoning is not absorbed into the hijiki. Edamame discolors easily, so add it to the frying pan just before turning off the heat.

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