Thursday, August 26, 2021

Loving Ogo

Our family has always loved ogo. We used to pick the Hawaiian seaweed in Ewa beach a long time ago. We got up early in the morning when it was cool and gathered the seaweed wonderfully littered on the beach. Here I am in 1980 with a long time buddy from elementary school.

Sadly, I'm told that too many people began diving for the seaweed and over harvesting them so now the precious seaweed can no longer be found on the beach.

Ogo (according to Sea Grant California) is considered a “superfood” because it has healthy amounts of important trace minerals, and potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium and iodine. 

This was mom's recipe which I now use. There are tons of different recipes online.

1 1/2 -2 pounds ogo
3/4 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1 clove garlic minced
1/2 inch fresh ginger minced
1 tsp. sesame seed oil
Green onion and/or round onions. (I just use 1 sweet onion.) You can add cucumbers too.

Bring water to boil and dunk in the ogo. Do NOT overcook. I wait just until the color of the ogo turns from red to green and gets a little soft. That's just a few seconds.

I hadn't been able to find ogo in such a long time and then Sam's Club started stocking them. 

Yay! We now have it as a side dish each evening.



21 comments:

  1. I used to buy some type of seaweed salad when I bought sushi at a store I used to go to. From the way the seaweed salad I used to get tasted, I think it may have had most of the ingredients you listed in the recipe, it didn't say on the package what type of seaweed it was. I should have asked the sushi chef what type it was, but didn't think to. Seaweed tastes good to me. I used to like to snack on the dried seaweed sheets used for making sushi.

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  2. There was a seaweed salad the retirement community would have on special occasion buffets. I wonder if that's what you're describing. Haven't had it since moving from there.

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  3. It sounds really tasty and healthy. I'm pretty sure I couldn't find it anywhere, but I might take a look at specialty stores.

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  4. wow never tasted it but i like vinegar foods.

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  5. My wife's asian culture is big on various types of green plants steeped in broths. I never know the names of them but I enjoy eating them with rice.

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  6. What an early morning adventure! I've seen seaweed salad in Hawaii, and in the local Kansas City stores (for about $5 for a half cup!) As an uninformed visitor, I thought the resort beaches were just cleaned off with a big special machine each morning to clear off the drooping seaweed off the beach. Never imagined that the seaweed on the beach was edible; I thought it was only harvested from the ocean waters. Linda in Kansas

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  7. I generally don't like boiled green things (spinach, kale, etc.) but would be willing to give this a try. The health benefits sound great!

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  8. Would love to try it and love the health qualities. I wonder if it could be intentionally grown? Might be worth a try.

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  9. It sounds absolutely awful, but you got some nice legs there, Kay! :^)

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  10. I used to make pickled ogo. We used to go to Ewa Beach and pick them off the bottom rocks until my husband told me to watch out for eels and then I got chicken. Then I would buy it from Marukai because they had the softer one from Molokai. Haven't made it in years. The recipe I used called for grated ginger and garlic. Dangerous on fingertips, but so worth the effort!

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  11. Glad you found it. Thanks for sharing your memory.

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  12. I’m kinda with ApacheDug on this one.

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  13. I am CRACKING UP at Apache Dug's long-distance friendly compliment! True it is, but what a hoot. Linda in Kansas

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  14. That's the first I've heard of that.

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  15. This is something I've never heard of but the traditional people knew what was good and how to cook it.

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  16. Blessings.....
    unfortunately we live in a society of excesses and over indulgences. Sadly this is the end result of fostering such ideals. I have never eaten seaweed.

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  17. Good to hear you can access it again.
    I heard of Ontario teens who invented a fire-proofing recipe using seaweed. It's an amazing plant.

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  18. Good to read you can get it again.

    All the best Jan

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