Instructions: There are several kinds, for most of which we dont have separate names in English, although in both Korean and Japanese, the names for the kinds are as different as ours for our favorite land leafy greens, and different recipes specify different ones.

Parts of England and Ireland have ancient traditions using laver, even in bread, although these recipes are part of the old ways now.

I buy these wonderful sea vegetables in Asian stores by sight, not name, and they are rarely labeled in English or have any instructions in English, unfortunately for most RF4RP readers.

Yoshida Suisan looks a bit like skinny tea leaves. Soak a handful in a gallon of cold water for 5 minutes then a quart of hot for 2 minutes. Use in soup or salad.

Wakame is a dark greenish black, and looks long, about an inch wide, and crinkly when dry. Break up and soak in a gallon of cold water for about 5 minutes. Youll be astounded by how huge it grows while you watch!! Add to hot miso soup, or make salad with it. No need to cook. Put it in a low bowl and add dressing:
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 T. mirin
2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. toasted sesame seeds
Toss with soaked and drained wakame. Add paper-thin slivers of cucumbers

(preferably kirbies) if you like.

Laver is the flat sheets used for rolled sushi. For a person with a bit of experience, rolled sushi is very easy to make, but it can intimidate others.

Try this as an alternative, and a personal take of mine on a traditional Korean breakfast. You can eat it for breakfast and even make it in advance and take out of the fridge in the morning.

1 cup sticky short-grain rice
2 T. whole barley grains
1/4 cup adzuki beans
2 T. millet grains
2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 T. sugar

Place in a pan and add 2 cups water and bring to a boil, covered. Still covered, turn off and let sit about an hour. The water will be absorbed in less than half that time, but the steam will continue to tenderize the beans. By an hour it should be cool enough to handle.

Cut a package of laver leaves into quarters.

Set out a shallow bowl of ice water and a plate of salt. Dip both palms into the water and then the salt. Take some rice about the size of a walnut and pat it into a ball. Take a piece of laver and spritz it with ice water at the edges only. Place the rice ball in the center, wrap and seal the edges. Refrigerate and eat however many you like for breakfast. These also travel well in your brown bag lunch.

Miyuk is the Korean name for another one I love. It is brown, thin and crumbly in texture, and about the width of your palm plus thumb if your glove size is 7-8 (med-lg). Do not confuse this with a very thick and flatter brown sea vegetable that is used for flavoring and removed much like we use bay leaves but is too leathery to eat even after boiling. Here is a soup used a lot in Korea, and has another tradition with it, that new mothers eat it every day for 3 months after giving birth to restore their strength.

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