Kombu is edible kelp from the family Laminariaceae and is widely eaten in
East Asia. It may also be referred to as konbu, dashima or haidai. Some edible
kelps in the family Laminariaceae are not always called kombu, such as arame,
kurome or Macrocystis pyrifera. Most kombu is from the species Saccharina
japonica, extensively cultivated on ropes in the seas of Japan and Korea.
With the development of cultivation technology, over 90% of Japanese kombu
is cultivated, mostly in Hokkaidō, but also as far south as the Seto Inland
Sea. Etymology
In Old Japanese, edible seaweed was generically called "me" in kanji such as
"軍布", 海藻 or "和布" were applied to transcribe the word. Especially, kombu
was called hirome or ebisume. Sometime later the names konfu and kofu appeared
respectively in two editions of Iroha Jirui Shō in 12th-13th century.
Various theories have been claimed for the origin of the name kombu, with the
following two predominant today. One is that it originated from the
On'yomi of the Chinese name 昆布. The kanji itself already could be seen in
Shōsōin Monjo and Shoku Nihongi in Japan, and furthermore trace back in
China, as early as 3rd century, to the book Wupu Bencao. Li Shizhen wrote the
following in his Bencao Gangmu. However kūnbù in Chinese and kombu in
Japanese are false friends. A first possibility to explain the association
arises because descriptions of kūnbù in Chinese documents are vague and
inconsistent, and it is impossible to identify to which seaweed the term might
have applied. For instance, Chen Cangqi noted "kūnbù is produced in the South
China Sea; its leaf is like a hand and the size is the same as a silver grass
and a reed, is of red purple; the thin part of leaf is seaweed", which is
similar to wakame, arame, kurome, or kajime. The difficulty is that, at least
in that time, kombu was not produced either in the East nor in the South
China Sea. Moreover, following Zhang Yxi, Li Shizhen classified kūnbù and
haidai as different things, and this classification continues in China today.
A second possibility of origin is that the word originated from kompu standing
for kombu in the Ainu language. Kompu in Ainu quite resembles gūanbù or kūnbù in
Chinese, and it is possible to speculate that one is a loanword from the other.
History "Qūan resembles 綸. This is in the East
China Sea." from the Erya and "Gūanbù, alias kūnbù" from the Wupu Bencao. Tao
Hongjing(456-536) noted kūnbù is edible. As previously mentioned, however, kūnbù
can not be identified with kombu. Zhang Yuxi referred to haidai in the book
嘉祐補註神農本草. Although archaeological evidence of
seaweed is hard to find because of its easy decomposition, some plant remains
of wakame seaweed are found in some ruins of the Jōmon Period which leads to
the supposition that kombu was also eaten at that time. As to surviving
documents, the letters 軍布 appeared in Man'yōshū and wood strips from
Fujiwara-kyō, and may have indicated kombu. The Shoku Nihongi(797) reports:
in 797 Suga no Komahiru of Emishi stated they had been offering up kombu, which
grew there, as tribute to the Yamato court every year without fail. The
Engishiki also reports that kombu had been offered up by Mutsu.
During the Muromachi period, a newly developed drying technique allowed kombu
to be stored for more than a few days, and it became an important export from
the Tohoku area. By the Edo period, as Hokkaidō was colonized and shipment
routes were organized, the use of kombu became widespread throughout Japan.
Traditional Okinawan cuisine relies heavily on kombu as a part of the diet;
this practice began in the Edo period. Okinawa uses more kombu per household
than any other prefecture. In the 20th century, a way to cultivate kombu was
discovered and it became cheap and readily available.
In 1867, the word "kombu" first appeared in an English-language publication—A
Japanese and English Dictionary by James Curtis Hepburn.
Since the 1960s, dried kombu has been exported from Japan to many countries.
It was available initially at Asian, and especially Japanese, food shops and
restaurants, and can be found in supermarkets, health-food stores, and
other nonspecializing suppliers. Cooking
Kombu is sold dried or pickled in vinegar or as a dried shred. It may also
be eaten fresh in sashimi. Kombu is used extensively in Japanese
cuisines as one of the three main ingredients needed to make dashi, a soup
stock. Kombu dashi is made by putting either whole dried or powdered kombu in
cold water and heating it to near-boiling. The softened kombu is
commonly eaten after cooking or is sliced and used to make tsukudani, a
dish that is simmered in soy sauce and mirin.
Kombu may be pickled with sweet-and-sour flavoring, cut into small strips about 5
or 6 cm long and 2 cm wide. These are often eaten as a snack with green tea.
It is often included when cooking beans, putatively to add nutrients and improve
their digestibility. Kombucha 昆布茶, "Kombu tea", is a beverage
brewed from dried and powdered kombu. This is sometimes confused with the
English word kombucha for the fermented and sweetened tea from Russia, which is
called kōcha kinoko in Japan. Kombu is also used to prepare a
seasoning for rice to be made into sushi.
Nutrition and health effects Kombu is a good source of glutamic acid,
an amino acid responsible for umami. Several foodstuffs in addition to kombu
provide glutamic acid or glutamates. Kombu contains iodine, a mineral that is
essential for normal growth and development. However, its high iodine
content has been blamed for thyroid problems after drinking large amounts of
soy milk in which kombu was an additive. Therefore people suffering from
hyperthyroidism should rather eat wakame which contains a lower amount of iodine.
It is also a source of dietary fiber. Algae including kombu also contain an
entire families of obscure enzymes that break down complex sugars that are
normally indigestible to the human gut, including the well-studied
alpha-galactosidase and beta-galactosidase.
Biofuel Genetically manipulated E. coli bacteria
can digest kombu into ethanol, making it a possible maritime biofuel source.
Prominent species (Japanese name followed by species)
Karafuto kombu, contains mannitol and is considered sweeter
Ma-kombu Mitsuishi-kombu or dashi-kombu, commonly
used in the making of dashi Naga-kombu
Rishiri-kombu, commonly used for soup stocks
See also Kelp
Laver Notes
Additional references External links
Kombu seaweed encyclopedia