Stewed Hijiki

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 93 10:08:29 EDT
From: epochsys!aiko@uunet.uu.net (Aiko Pinkoski)

Here is my mothers fatfree version of a Japanese "home" dish.

Stewed Hijiki
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About 2/3 of 2.1 oz bag of dried hijiki seaweed
5 dried shiitake mushrooms
half a carrot, a few green beans
a little konnyaku if you have it (only found at Japanese food stores?)
1 TBSP sugar
about 1/4 c reduced sodium soysauce

Soak the hijiki 15 minutes in water to cover. Soak the mushrooms in warm
water till soft, then thinly slice (keep the water).

Drain the hijiki (if strands are long, you might want to cut it--
but my 3 yo enjoys eating the long pieces like spaghetti).
Simmer hijiki and the mushrooms in the soaking water and additional
water (enough to cover). Simmer til soft (best guess 20 minutes?).

Cut carrot into matchsticks, french/sliver the green beans, cut
konnyaku into small cubes. We don't usually have konnyaku at home
so we usually omit it. You can experiment with other additions but
usually all the additions are not more than 1/8 of the hijiki.

Add whatever additions you chose, soy sauce, and sugar to the hijiki.
Taste (you may want more soysauce if you like a stronger flavor).
My mother says to not add salt though, it makes the hijiki tough.
Simmer covered till the carrots are soft.

I like it best slightly warm or at room temperature but good cold also.