Other Uses For This Tasty Sea Vegetable

While Irish, Icelandic, and Welsh families have recognized the value of wildcrafted dulse for centuries, American agricultural researchers have just started growing dulse commercially. Oregon State University professor Chris Langdon has even created a patented strain of dulse that can be harvested at any time of year for full-scale agricultural production in the American Pacific Northwest. Langdon works extensively with Jason Ball, a research chef at the Oregon State University Food Innovation Center to create recipes for dulse that will appeal to even the most seaweed-averse. Some of the ways Ball uses dulse in creative, tasty, nutritious recipes include:

• Sourdough bread with dulse substituted for salt. If this sounds a little out-there, it may help to know that Irish soda bread, which is popular even in parts of the United States, is also made with dulse.
• Beer brewed with dried dulse instead of hops. Home beer brewers may want to try this one.
• Instant ramen with a dulse spice packet. Adding dulse flakes to other instant ramen imparts a smoky, salty flavor that the MSG packets that come with most brands can't match.

• A puffed rice dulse cracker. Reported to be a hit at taste tests, Ball says “it’s like a vegetarian chicharrón (pork crackling)."
• Smoked dulse popcorn brittle. Home cooks can simply add dulse flakes to any kind of brittle they make with a savory component for an added smoky, bacon taste.
• Trail mix with dulse-and-banana leather. Dried dulse strips can also be added to trail mix made wit nuts.
• Dulse-and-fruit ice creams. The addition of dulse makes ice cream especially creamy.

How can you add this nutritional powerhouse to your own recipes? First of all, be sure to store dulse (you will almost certainly be buying dried dulse) in a cool, dry place. It will keep for up to two years. When you are working with dried dulse fronds, pull them apart just to make sure no stray pebbles or sand found their way into the product. Use dulse creatively.

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Fried dulse isn't just a breakfast food. Crisp dulse strips in a pan with oil, and then slap them between two slices of bread with lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise for a DLT. Eat dulse chips instead of potato chips. Sprinkle dulse flakes over popcorn for a unique smoky-salty flavor, or use the flakes to season scrambled eggs when you aren't making dulse "bacon."  Add dulse flakes to salad dressings and vinaigrettes, or to season canned tuna fish or casseroles. Make a vegan miso soup with dulse flakes instead of bonito flakes. Add a meaty, umami flavor with dulse. The secret to the Japanese food craze the "umami burger" is dulse added to the meat.

With commercial dulse farms being set up in both the United States and Denmark, dulse is quite possibly the next kale, only even more nutritious. This magic seaweed creates new flavor profiles while adding fat-free nutrition to nearly everything you cook. Catch the wave of flavor and cook with dulse.