Alaria Fact Sheet
WHAT?
Alaria consists of beautiful, olive brown fronds, which grow from 6 to 12 feet long with golden midribs.
It is similar to Japanese wakame (miso soup) but takes longer to cook (20 minutes).
It is packaged in pre–cut strips.
WHERE?
Hand–harvested by skilled harvesters from the downeast region of the Gulf of Maine (cold, clean waters) at the peak of nutrition and taste (spring to early summer).
Annual organic certification (OCIA) of harvesting and handling.
Tested annually for heavy metals, pesticides, hydrocarbons, and microbial contamination.
WHY?
Good source of all major minerals and trace elements, especially:
Iron (11% RDA per serving)
Calcium (9% RDA per serving)
Potassium (15% RDA per serving)
Magnesium (21% RDA per serving)
Sodium (12% RDA per serving)
Rich source of iodine (many times the RDA).
Good balance of potassium to sodium (about 2 to 1).
Source of unique phytochemicals (like alginates that prevent uptake of heavy metals and radioactive isotopes).
Source of phytoestrogens (research on relationship to breast cancer is ongoing).
Excellent source of fiber, both soluble and insoluble.
High Vitamin A content (20% RDA per serving) comparable to spinach or parsley.
Contains live enzymes and chlorophyll.
HOW?
Alaria is the perfect sea vegetable for soups. Lightly rinse or soak, check for small shells.
Add a 5 inch strip per quart of water. Use in miso soup. (NB: Alaria is less expensive than wakame while providing the same nutritional value. It does, however, require a longer cooking time).
May be blanched, boiled (20 minutes), pressure cooked (10 minutes), soaked or marinated (12 hours), or pan fried (3–4 minutes).
Turns a delicate green color when cooked.
Chop soaked or cooked plants into bite–size pieces and add to salads.
For more information click on the compass to go to the Maine Coast Sea Vegetables website.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License by Maine Coast Sea Vegetables, 2006.
You may reuse or share this work with attribution for non-commercial purposes.
