Nori Made from Green Algae or Red Algae?

Do you know nori food?

Nori is the Japanese name for dried seaweed.

In China, Nori is called haitai, while in Korea it is called game.

Apart from being a food wrapper, nori can also be enjoyed directly as a savory snack.

This type of processed seaweed is indeed the most popular, including in Indonesia.

Nori is generally in the form of sheets with a dark green color with a rough texture and a slightly shiny surface.

The seaweed that is used as nori must be mashed first and then spread out into sheets and dried to resemble paper.

Many people think that nori is made from green algae, because nori has a green color.

Even though nori is made from red algae, you know! The raw material for nori is the red algae of the Porphyra type.

Unique Facts of Nori Raw Material Red Algae

Porphyra red algae are not found in Indonesia because Porphyra live in a subtropical climate.

This red algae grows a lot in the waters of Japan, China and Korea.

Therefore, many foods use nori from these three countries.

Cultivation of red algae for nori is carried out in summer.

In autumn when the sea water temperature is around 20 degrees Celsius, nori cultivation waters are installed with hooks to catch red algae spores.

Installation of spore hooks is carried out in water areas where nori naturally grows.

The red algae spores are then moved to areas of cultivated waters which are closer to the coast for easy monitoring.

Red algae will grow rapidly in autumn conditions.

Harvesting can be done after the red algae are mature.

Algae that are ready to be harvested are marked with dark red-brown or purplish sheets or thallus.

After the first harvest, algae can still be harvested repeatedly with a 10 day rest period.

After that, the algae is processed into nori by grinding and pressing.

Why is Nori Green?

Although made from red algae, nori is generally dark green or blackish green.

This is because algae have chlorophyll to photosynthesize. 

Not only green algae, the ability to photosynthesize is also owned by red algae.

Because red algae have chlorophyll or leaf green substance, the green color dominates the final nori product. 

This is why many people think that nori is made from green algae.