Seaweed Quotes

“From her thighs, she gives you life
And how you treat she who gives you life
Shows how much you value the life given to you by the Creator.
And from seed to dust
There is ONE soul above all others --
That you must always show patience, respect, and trust
And this woman is your mother.
And when your soul departs your body
And your deeds are weighed against the feather
There is only one soul who can save yours
And this woman is your mother.
And when the heart of the universe
Asks her hair and mind,
Whether you were gentle and kind to her
Her heart will be forced to remain silent
And her hair will speak freely as a separate entity,
Very much like the seaweed in the sea --
It will reveal all that it has heard and seen.

This woman whose heart has seen yours,
First before anybody else in the world,
And whose womb had opened the door
For your eyes to experience light and more --
Is your very own MOTHER.
So, no matter whether your mother has been cruel,
Manipulative, abusive, mentally sick, or simply childish
How you treat her is the ultimate test.
If she misguides you, forgive her and show her the right way
With simple wisdom, gentleness, and kindness.
And always remember,
That the queen in the Creator's kingdom,
Who sits on the throne of all existence,
Is exactly the same as in yours.
And her name is,
THE DIVINE MOTHER.”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

“KINGDOM OF THE WOMB

From her thighs, she gives you life
And how you treat she who gives you life
Shows how much you value the life given to you by the Creator.
And from seed to dust
There is ONE soul above all others --
That you must always show patience, respect, and trust
And this woman is your mother.
And when your soul departs your body
And your deeds are weighed against the feather
There is only one soul who can save yours
And this woman is your mother.
And when the heart of the universe
Asks her hair and mind,
Whether you were gentle and kind to her
Her heart will be forced to remain silent
And her hair will speak freely as a separate entity,
Very much like the seaweed in the sea --
It will reveal all that it has heard and seen.

This woman whose heart has seen yours,
First before anybody else in the world,
And whose womb had opened the door
For your eyes to experience light and more --
Is your very own MOTHER.
So, no matter whether your mother has been cruel,
Manipulative, abusive, mentally sick, or simply childish
How you treat her is the ultimate test.
If she misguides you, forgive her and show her the right way
With simple wisdom, gentleness, and kindness.
And always remember,
That the queen in the Creator's kingdom,
Who sits on the throne of all existence,
Is exactly the same as in yours.
And her name is,
THE DIVINE MOTHER.”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

“Where mermaids live looks a bit like your pool.' said Bernard. 'Except they build houses out of whale bones and the wreckage of sunken ships. They play chess with seahorses. They wear capes of fish scales and sleep on beds made from seaweed.'

As we listened, I thought I heard a slight splashing from the far end of the pool.

'At night,' Bernard continued, 'they turn on an electric eel for a night-light, and they light a fire, and the smoke goes up a chimney made from coral.'

'Wait a minute,' interupted Zoe, clearly immersed in Bernard's description. 'If they live underwater, how could they have a fire?'

'You should ask them,' said Bernard.

Zoe and I open our eyes.

Now, look, I know the light was just playing tricks on us. And I know we'd all probably inhaled too much sequin glue. But for the briefest moment, the blue of Zoe's pool gave way to deeper, darker aqua-colored water. The few plants and rocks were replaced with a lagoon and a waterfall where several mermaids lounged half in the water, half in the sun. They splashed and dove, their laughter making the same sound as the water.”
― Michelle Cuevas, Confessions of an Imaginary Friend

“You see," the tourist went on, "you know that thing you do with seaweed?"
Bethan, brought up on the Vortex Plains, had only heard of the sea in stories, and had decided she didn't like it. She looked blank.
"Eat it?"
"No, what you do is, you hang it up outside your door, and it tells you if it's going to rain."
Another thing Bethan had learned was that there was no real point in trying to understand anything Twoflower said, and that all anyone could do was run alongside the conversation and hope to jump on it as it turned a corner.
"I see," she said.
"Rincewind is like that, you see."
"Like seaweed."
"Yes. If there was anything at all to be frightened about, he'd be frightened. But he's not. The star is just about the only thing I've ever seen him not frightened of. If he's not worried, then take it from me, there's nothing to be worried about."
"It's not going to rain?" said Bethan.
"Well, no, metaphorically speaking."
"Oh." Bethan decided not to ask what "metaphorically" meant, in case it had something to do with seaweed.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Light Fantastic

“There long he sojourned alone and roamed about the shore or fared over the rocks at the ebb, marvelling at the pools and the great weeds, the dripping caverns and the strange sea-fowl that he saw and came to know; but the rise and fall of the water and the voice of the waves was ever to him the greatest wonder and ever did it seem a new and unimaginable thing.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fall of Gondolin

“Well then, first would be the abalone and sea urchin- the bounty of the sea!
Ah, I see! This foam on top is kombu seaweed broth that's been whipped into a mousse!"
"Mm! I can taste the delicate umami flavors seeping into my tongue!"
"The fish meat was aged for a day wrapped in kombu. The seaweed pulls just enough of the moisture out of the meat, allowing it to keep longer, a perfect technique for a bento that needs to last. Hm! Next looks to be bonito. ...!" What rich, powerful umami!"
Aha! This is the result of several umami components melding together. The glutamic acid in the kombu from the previous piece is mixing together in my mouth with the inosinic acid in the bonito!
"And, like, I cold aged this bonito across two days. Aging fish and meats boosts their umami components, y'know. In other words, the true effect of this bento comes together in your mouth... as you eat it in order from one end to the other."
"Next is a row... that looks to be made entirely from vegetables. But none of them use a single scrap of seaweed. The wrappers around each one are different vegetables sliced paper-thin!"
"Right! This bento totally doesn't go for any heavy foods."
"Next comes the sushi row that practically cries out that it's a main dish... raw cold-aged beef sushi!" Th-there it is again! The powerful punch of umami flavor as two components mix together in my mouth!
"Hm? Wait a minute. I understand the inosinic acid comes from the beef... but where is the glutamic acid?"
"From the tomatoes."
"Tomatoes? But I don't see any..."
"They're in there. See, I first put them in a centrifuge. That broke them down into their component parts- the coloring, the fiber, and the jus. I then filtered the jus to purify it even further. Then I put just a few drops on each piece of veggie sushi."
"WHAT THE HECK?!"
"She took an ingredient and broke it down so far it wasn't even recognizable anymore? Can she even do that?"
Appliances like the centrifuge and cryogenic grinder are tools that were first developed to be used in medicine, not cooking. Even among pro chefs, only a handful are skilled enough to make regular use of such complex machines! Who would have thought a high school student was capable of mastering them to this degree!
"And last but not least we have this one. It's sea bream with some sort of pink jelly...
... resting on top of a Chinese spoon."
That pink jelly was a pearl of condensed soup stock! Once it popped inside my mouth...
... it mixed together with the sea bream sushi until it tasted like-
"Sea bream chazuke!”
― Yuto Tsukuda, 食戟のソーマ 8 [Shokugeki no Souma 8]

“They pop in the mouth, just like salmon roe! But inside...
... is the savory saltiness of seaweed!"
"Those pearls are seaweed?!"
But how?!"
"Delicious! Not only is the pop of the pearl a fun texture, the salty, savory flavor of the seaweed melts seamlessly with the rice! I can barely stop myself! It's an addicting combination!"
"Wait... how do you know that technique? Those pearls are seaweed extract gelled into a spherical shape. The only way to do that is by using a calcium-chloride bath and an alginic-acid gelling agent!"
"What the heck?!"
"That's food science!"
"Yukihira pulled a page from Alice Nakiri's own book!"
"I've experimented with this stuff before, y'know. When I was a little kid, anyway."
"Wha-?! But that's-"
"Convenience store Dagashi Candy?!"
"Dagashi?! What's that?"
Both chemicals are on the ingredients list!
"It's what's called an educational candy. Kids play with that to learn how to make their own jelly pearls. I had a blast with it when I was little. I made lots of different stuff."
"Dad, look! I made miso pearls!"
"Aha ha ha! That's great! Now don't let any of the customers see that."
"You can get both alginic acid and calcium chloride at any pharmacy. I used those, along with some seasoned seaweed extract and a little bit of ingenuity...
... to make these savory seaweed bombs- my own spin on the traditional seaweed bento!"
"That's right! There were some educational candies in that pile of sweets he got from the kids yesterday!"
"The transfer student used a food-science trick?"
"And it was one he got off of a package of children's dagashi candy?!"
"Hmm? What's this? I see something that looks like okaka minced tuna hiding inside the rice..."
Mmmm! It's dried tunatsukudani!
This, too, earns full marks for flavor! And its smooth, juicy texture is a wonderful contrast to the pop of the seaweed pearls!”
― Yuto Tsukuda, 食戟のソーマ 9 [Shokugeki no Souma 9]

“You... you were telling me about your diet?"
"Well, mostly I was raised on milk, potatoes, dulse, fish-"
"I beg your pardon, did you say 'dulse'? What is that, exactly?"
"A kind of seaweed," MacRae said. "As a lad, it was my job to go out at low tide before supper and cut handfuls of it from the rocks on shore." He opened a cupboard to view a small store of cooking supplies and utensils. "It goes in soup, or you can eat it raw." He glanced at her over his shoulder, amusement touching his lips as he saw her expression.
"Seaweed is the secret to good health?" Merritt asked dubiously.
"No, milady, that would be whisky. My men and I take a wee dram every day." Seeing her perplexed expression, her continued, "Whisky is the water of life. It warms the blood, keeps the spirits calm, and the heart strong."
"I wish I liked whisky, but I'm afraid it's not to my taste."
MacRae looked appalled. "Was it Scotch whisky?"
"I'm not sure," she said. "Whatever it was, it set my tongue on fire."
"It was no' Scotch, then, but rotgut. Islay whisky starts as hot as the devil's whisper... but then the flavors come through, and it might taste of cinnamon, or peat, or honeycomb fresh from the hive. It could taste of a long-ago walk on a winter's eve... or a kiss you once stole from your sweetheart in the hayloft. Whisky is yesterday's rain, distilled with barley into a vapor that rises like a will-o'-the-wisp, then set to bide its time in casks of good oak." His voice had turned as soft as a curl of smoke. "Someday we'll have a whisky, you and I. We'll toast health to our friends and peace to our foes... and we'll drink to the loves lost to time's perishing, as well as those yet to come.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Devil in Disguise

“Colored pencils can color a beautiful sea, but in the right hands, they can also make you smell the seaweed.”
― Anthony T. Hincks

“Lacy little green fronds waved up through clear liquid; it reminded me of a forest stream in early spring, just after the ice has melted. I picked up a frond, and as I put it in my mouth, I experienced a moment of cool, pure freshness.
"What is it?" I asked Jake, enchanted.
"Mozuku, a special kind of seaweed from Okinawa. You don't think it's slimy?"
"Slippery, but I love the way it feels in my mouth.”
― Ruth Reichl, Delicious!

“Meanwhile, at a Tokyo 7-Eleven, someone right now is choosing from a variety of bento boxes and rice bowls, delivered that morning and featuring grilled fish, sushi, mapo tofu, tonkatsu, and a dozen other choices. The lunch philosophy at Japanese 7-Eleven? Actual food.
On the day we missed out on fresh soba, Iris had a tonkatsu bento, and I chose a couple
of rice balls (onigiri), one filled with pickled plum and the other with spicy fish roe. For $1.50, convenience store onigiri encapsulate everything that is great about Japanese food and packaging. Let's start in the middle and work outward, like were building an onion. The core of an onigiri features a flavorful and usually salty filling. This could be an umeboshi (pickled apricot, but usually translated as pickled plum), as sour as a Sour Patch Kid; flaked salmon; or cod or mullet roe.
Next is the rice, packed lightly by machine into a perfect triangle. Japanese rice is unusual among staple rices in Asia because it's good at room temperature or a little colder. Sushi or onigiri made with long-grain rice would be a chalky, crumbly disaster. Oishinbo argues that Japan is the only country in Asia that makes rice balls because of the unique properties of Japanese rice. I doubt this. Medium- and short-grain rices are also popular in parts of southern China, and presumably wherever those rices exist, people squish them into a ball to eat later, kind of like I used to do with a fistful of crustless white bread. (Come on, I can't be the only one.)
Next comes a layer of cellophane, followed by a layer of nori and another layer of cellophane. The nori is preserved in a transparent shell for the same reason Han Solo was encased in carbonite: to ensure that he would remain crispy until just before eating. (At least, I assume that's what Jabba the Hutt had in mind.) You pull a red strip on the onigiri packaging, both layers of cellophane part, and a ready-to-eat rice ball tumbles into your hand, encased in crispy seaweed.
Not everybody finds the convenience store onigiri packaging to be a triumph. "The seaweed isn't just supposed to be crunchy," says Futaki in Oishinbo: The Joy of Rice. "It tastes best when the seaweed gets moist and comes together as one with the rice." Yamaoka agrees. Jerk. Luckily, you'll find a few moist-nori rice balls right next to the crispy ones.”
― Matthew Amster-Burton, Pretty Good Number One: An American Family Eats Tokyo

“I busied myself with the seaweed, while Stephen pulled out flexible opaque salmon bones. After skinning the fish, he sliced it down the center seam, creating two pieces, which he cut into quarter-inch-thick slices. Then, like magic, he transformed a knob of ginger into a miniature golden haystack.
I handed him the slippery piece of kelp, which he squared off and placed on a bamboo sushi roller. Next, he laid several slices of salmon across the shiny middle, sprinkled it with a few threads of ginger, and rolled it up like a nori roll. After sealing the cylinder in plastic wraps, he handed it to me.
"Cut this into bite-size pieces." The sweet and tangy kelp yielded like a cooked lasagna noodle under the sharp knife, creating exotic coral-and-sienna pinwheels.
Next, we made delicate egg crepes to wrap around thick oily slices of mackerel that we soaked in a bracing mix of dashi, sugar, and soy. This was followed by a small "salad" of lightly salted white fish "noodles" tossed with salmon roe and lemony yuzu.”
― Victoria Abbott Riccardi, Untangling My Chopsticks: A Culinary Sojourn in Kyoto

“Mmm! This is so yummy! It's salt and spring onion flavored, right?"
"Yep! I boiled some chicken tenderloins and dressed them with salt and spring onion sauce. I spread the sauce on the outside of the rice balls too!"
"Yum! The salty flavor really whets the appetite!"
"The body especially craves salt after exercise too."
"Aah, is this kombu? Seaweed is a rice ball staple! Tsukudani kombu and... cheese?!" *Tsukudani means foods simmered in soy sauce and mirin.*
"Right! The heavy sweetness of tsukudani foods goes really well with cheese."
"Okay, let's see what the last one is! Yum! The garlic flavor is awesome!"
"Those are my honey-garlic pork rice balls.
I boiled some pork belly until it was soft... and then I let it marinate with some garlic for a day in a mixture of miso, cooking saké, and honey. It's super awesome with rice, so I thought I'd try making rice balls with it.
I brought barley tea and green tea. Take your pick!"
AAAAH
"This is the brilliance of Megumi's cooking. It calms and comforts the heart of whoever enjoys it."
"The chicken tenderloin isn't too dry, and the pork is perfectly tender. All of these are carefully and deftly made.”
― Yuto Tsukuda, Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 2

“And he came at last to the outer barrier, where the long leathery brown algae hung down into the water. Red starfish clustered on the rocks, and the sea pulsed up and down against the barrier, waiting to get in again. Between two weeded rocks on the barrier Doc saw a flash of white under water and then the floating weed covered it. He climbed to the place over the slippery rocks, held himself firmly, and gently reached down and parted the brown algae. Then he grew rigid. A girl’s face looked up at him, a pretty, pale girl with dark hair. The eyes were open and clear and the face was firm and the hair washed gently about her head.”
― John Steinbeck, Cannery Row

“There's too much seaweed in the Bronx.”
― Anthony T. Hincks

“My protein was salmon. I closed my eyes, thinking back to---lox. Smoked salmon we often ate on bagels, but I did have rice. What if I ground some of the rice to make a crispy crust on the salmon, then smoked the salmon on a play of lox? The seaweed had the same briny notes as capers, and I could pickle these radishes the way I'd pickled red onions...”
― Amanda Elliot, Sadie on a Plate

“Knives sliced cleanly through the salmon, pink flesh flaking on either side, the crust giving way with a satisfying crunch. Lenore and Maz were eating, too, but I kept my eyes fixed on Luke's fork. He tried a bite of the salmon plain first, chewing thoughtfully, then swept up some of my rice porridge with the seaweed-pickled vegetables, then returned for a bite of everything together, pink salmon and white porridge and pops of green and red all entering his parted lips.
He closed his eyes as he tasted my food. He didn't open them again until he swallowed. "The salmon is perfect," he said. "Flaky and tender, with just the right amount of smoke, and the crunch of that crust is just..." He paused, those bottomless eyes on mine. The tip of his tongue darted over his lower lip. "Incredible."
I didn't mean to smile, just nod appreciatively at any praise, but I felt it curl over my lips anyway. "Thank you."
"I agree," said Lenore. "The salmon is something quite special. Is the crust rice alone?"
"No," I said. "It's ground rice with some panko and a little nori."
She nodded with approval. "And these seaweed-pickled vegetables are stellar. Bright and tangy, a lovely pop of acid against the richness of the salmon and the porridge.”
― Amanda Elliot, Sadie on a Plate

“Hmm. A grilled miso rice ball and a grilled soy sauce rice ball...
But what is this covered in dried seaweed?"
"When we think about the rice ball and its connection to the Japanese climate and culture, the existence of fermented food is something we can't ignore. Eating fermented food on a daily basis is a unique trait of the Japanese culinary culture.
The most famous of the fermented foods are the soy sauce and miso. Seasonings that the Japanese diet cannot do without.
We coated one of the rice balls with soy sauce and the other with miso...
... and grilled them over charcoal."
"The slightly burnt scent of the soy sauce is so appetizing."
"The grilled fragrance of miso is irresistible to a Japanese person. And this we can only taste in the form of a rice ball too."
"Another fermented Japanese product that we must not forget about is natto. Natto is a little tough to put inside a rice ball as it is...
... so we've minced it along with diced green onions. It has been flavored with soy sauce and Japanese mustard.
And to add some punch to it, we coated the rice ball with roasted shredded seaweed. By shredding it, the flavor of the dried seaweed becomes far better than just coating the rice ball with a sheet of it.”
― Tetsu Kariya, The Joy of Rice

“Seafood is also something we cannot do without as a country surrounded by sea. And the rich variety of seafood is often used in rice balls.
The first one is a classic rice ball, with salted salmon. It's slightly different since the grilled salted salmon is broken down into flakes...
... and mixed into the rice together with chopped green onion...
...then made into a rice ball and wrapped in roasted dried seaweed."
"Ah, the salmon has been mixed nicely into the rice, so it has a very rich taste."
"And the flavor of the green onion gets rid of the fishy scent of the salmon, making the rice ball taste even better."
"This will be great to have in a lunch box."
"The next rice ball is coated with shredded dried seaweed just like the last one, but the filling is different. It's sea urchin, but it's not raw sea urchin or the typical bottled sea urchin. It's sea urchin shiokara."
"Sea urchin shiokara?"
"Most of the typical bottled sea urchins have been steeped in alcohol. It's probably because they're easier to make and easier to eat.
But in the old days, sea urchin was often made into shiokara. If you salt the sea urchin and let it age and ferment, it becomes far richer tasting compared to a raw sea urchin or the alcohol-macerated sea urchin.
Nowadays, that sea urchin shiokara has become very rare, and many people don't even know what it tastes like. So I've decided to use it as a filling for the rice ball."
"Ooh, it has such a rich taste."
"By being fermented, the sea urchin has developed a completely different flavor along with the original flavor it had.”
― Tetsu Kariya, The Joy of Rice

“The first one is red bean rice ball. Red beans and sticky rice were often steamed together to create red bean rice on celebratory occasions. It was considered to be a feast in the olden days.
Many areas in Japan still carry on the tradition of making red bean rice whenever there is something to celebrate. In that sense, I think you can say red bean rice is deeply rooted in the Japanese soul."
"That's right. I made red bean rice along with other foods when the framework of my house was completed."
"It feels very festive for some reason."
"I like the salt and sesame seasoning on it."
"The next is a hijiki rice ball. You cook the rice together with the hijiki, thin fried tofu and carrots...
...flavor it with soy sauce and make a rice ball with it.
The hijiki rice is the typical Japanese commoners' food that mixes riches from the sea and the soil together. A rice ball made of hijiki rice is one of the original Japanese foods with a long continuing history."
"Aaah. This brings back memories."
"It makes us realize that we're Japanese. It's a flavor we must not lose."
"The last rice ball of the past is dried seaweed. Dried seaweed is one of the most familiar seaweeds to the Japanese, apart from konbu, wakame and hijiki.
And the way to fully enjoy the taste of the dried seaweed...
... is to make seaweed tsukudani and use that as the filling for the rice ball.
For the tsukudani, you simmer top-quality dried seaweed in sake and soy sauce. Once you learn its taste, you will never be satisfied with eating the dried seaweed tsukudani that's commercially available."
"It tastes nothing like that one we can buy at the market."
"It's refreshing, yet has a very strong scent of seaweed."
"It's interesting to see the difference in flavor of the tsukudani filling and the seaweed wrapping the rice ball."
"Red bean rice, hijiki rice and dried seaweed tsukudani rice balls...
These are flavors that will never fade away as long as the Japanese are around.”
― Tetsu Kariya, The Joy of Rice