brownish fucoxanthin. They store some
of their energy in the sweet sugar alcohol
mannitol, which can amount to a quarter
of the dry weight of fall-harvested kelp,
and their typical mucilaginous material
is algin.Some freshwater algae are also collected
from rivers and ponds: for example, species of
Cladophora, which in Southeast Asia are
pressed into nori-like sheets and used
similarly (Laotian kaipen). Two alga-like
creatures that are actually blue-green bacteria
sometimes figure in the kitchen: the
nutritional supplement spirulina and the
Chinese “hair vegetable” or “hair moss,”
species of Nostoc, which grows in mountain
springs in the Mongolian desert.
Seaweed Flavors
When it comes to flavor, the three seaweed