Fishy (Vegetarian) Seaweed dip

This delicious and simple dip uses wild, dried seaweed and has an amazingly fishy flavour! Each seaweed species has a different range of flavours, qualities and uses.

Here I introduce this abundant seaweed, describe a little bit about its history, how I discovered it and how to create this wonderful dish.

Which seaweed to use for this dip?

Several seaweeds have a fishy taste when raw or cooked, though I have to say that I was really surprised with this one! Raw, it tastes light, refreshing and crunchy, but dried, oh boy! An amazing fishy and seafood flavour comes through.

Introducing Sargassum muticum, wireweed seaweed

I first discovered this seaweed in an amazing and understated book called; SEAWEED A user's guide by Sonia Surey-Gent and Gordon Morris. The authors described Sargassum muticum (which used to be known as Jap weed) as a wonderfully balanced nutritional supplement that can be highly invasive.

It is one of the seaweeds I chose to include in my Seaweed foraging book as it grows abundantly where found and is despised by scientists and environmentalists too! Read on to find out why. , but first let me digress, slightly...

The first-ever Sargassum muticum in British waters

Fast-forward a few years from first discovering this weed and I attended a 3-day course on seaweeds at the Marine Biological Association (MBA) in Plymouth. The course consisted of a mixture of practical trips to the seashore and scientific presentations.

The MBA is right on the coastline and stunning location and it also houses a historical collection of seaweeds. It was here that I was able to see the first-ever sample of this seaweed ever found. Ooooh - very exciting for a seaweed nerd like me!

Teaching Sargassum muticum on my seaweed foraging courses

I've taught this seaweed on foraging courses for years. I'm particularly passionate about it as I love framing so-called invasive species in a more positive light - i.e eat this wonderful weed! As a non-native seaweed it has a reputation for crowding out other native seaweeds and even clogging up harbours, if people only knew about its nutritional value and wonderful flavour!

I also have something in common with this weed. It was first found in the UK the same year that I was born - 1973. In actual fact, 8-days after my birth, on the Isle of Wight, an area where I spent a considerable amount of my childhood.

How to use Sargassum muticum (wireweed)

When picking large amounts of this seaweed, I dry it. Draped over clothes dryers in my sunny kitchen, I then grind it to a powder. Powdered seaweed takes up a fraction of the space, making it easier to store and easy to sprinkle into dishes.

This seaweed is one of the 16 seaweeds in my Seaweed Foraging book where you can learn more about its qualities and uses.

Fishy (vegetarian) seaweed dip recipe

This recipe is easy to create. You first need to identify and harvest wireweed (Sargassum muticum) seaweed, then dry it (instructions in my Seaweed book) and combine it with 3 simple ingredients

Ingredients

• 150 g natural yoghurt or creme fraiche
• 3 heaped tsp dried and ground sargassum seaweed
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp virgin olive oil

Combine the ingredients and tweak according to your tastes. Let it sit for at least 1/2 an hour for the flavours to infuse. It keeps well for several days too. Use as a dip with fresh bread, carrot sticks or as a dressing over salad or cooked veggies.

Combine the ingredients and tweak according to your tastes. Let it sit for at least 1/2 an hour for the flavours to infuse. It keeps well for several days too. Use as a dip with fresh bread, carrot sticks or as a dressing over salad or cooked veggies.

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