Hermitcraft: Red Spaghetti (and Similar Rhodophytes)

As spring brings back the tender new seaweed, I rate it proper to share one of my favourites. This is Gracilariopsis sjoestedtii, a rhodophyte also known as "red spaghetti". As that name suggests, it's edible, though not in exactly the way you might conclude.

G. sjoestedtii is native to the eastern Pacific but relatives with similar attributes can be found across the planet. Like many in its phylum it's a good source of agar, a vegan jelly put to a wide range of uses in science and industry. And more importantly, gastronomy.

To that end you can poach rhodophytes in water or milk and press the gunk out of them, as humans have done for millennia, then use it to thicken soups and desserts. But for my money G. sjoestedtii is best simply eaten raw, more or less as-is, in the Korean style.

Unlike most seaweeds, this one is tender, succulent, and mild straight off the beach. Which is why I often eat it straight off the beach. However, it's also salty, so don't do this unless you're near home or packing drinking water.

If you bring some home, refrigerate immediately and wash it just before eating. Fresh water destroys marine algae at the cellular level, resulting in instant putrefaction.

You can chop chilled Gracilariopsis and add it to salads. Or just make a Gracilariopsis salad; cut the stems into bite-sized lengths, toss with a little finely chopped red onion, maybe other ingredients as called; dress lightly with oil and vinegar. Rice vinegar is particularly good, but I've also had plenty of success with herbed vinegars or plain old apple cider vinegar.

Though the noodle-like red algae don't cook especially well, turning instantly to stringy bright green hair, you can add them raw to hot soups or noodles, just before serving, for a pleasant touch of the sea.

And they make an excellent topping for crackers, baked potatoes, and hamburgers. On franks and brats, the shred-like pieces are remarkably suggestive of a marine sauerkraut.

Or just pitch bite-sized bits into your Bassho bowl (recipe: cooked brown rice, vegetable, protein – microwave, or steam lightly in a lidded pan), where they can serve for either vegetable or protein, according to need. I particularly like to pair Gracilariopsis with beans in this quick, sustaining monastic meal.

Nothing better in your Buddha bowl.