Kombu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kombu (昆布
konbu?) is edible kelp from the family Laminariaceae
widely eaten in East Asia.[1]
It may also be referred to as konbu (Japanese), dashima
(Korean: 다시마) or haidai (simplified
Chinese: 海带;
traditional Chinese:
海帶; pinyin: Hǎidài). Some edible kelps in the family Laminariaceae
are not always called kombu, such as arame, kurome (Ecklonia kurome) or Macrocystis pyrifera. Most kombu is from the species Saccharina japonica (Laminaria japonica),[1]
extensively cultivated on ropes in the seas of Japan and Korea.[2]
Over 90% of Japanese kombu is cultivated, mostly in Hokkaidō,
but also as far south as the Seto Inland Sea
with the development of cultivation technology today.
Etymology
In Old Japanese, edible seaweed was
generically called "me" (cf. wakame, arame) and the kanji such as "軍布",[3]
海藻[4]
or "和布"[5]
were applied to transcribe the word. Especially, kombu was called hirome
(from hiroi, wide) or ebisume (from ebisu).[6]
Sometime thereafter the names konfu and kofu appeared
respectively in two editions of Iroha Jirui Shō in 12th-13th century.[7]
Over the origin of the name kombu
various theories has been claimed to date, and the following two are dominant
today.
One is that it originated from the On'yomi (Sino-Japanese reading) of the Chinese name 昆布 (kūnbù).[8]
The kanji itself already could be seen in Shōsōin Monjo (8th century) and Shoku Nihongi
(797) in Japan, and furthermore trace back in China, as early as 3rd century,
to the book Wupu Bencao (around 239).[9]
Li Shizhen
wrote the following in his Bencao Gangmu
(1596).
Come to think about it, Wupu Bencao
says "綸布
(gūanbù), alias 昆布
(kūnbù)." Then, what is mentioned in the Erya as "(what is pronouced) 綸 resembles 綸.
This is in the East China Sea" is kūnbù. The pronouciation of 綸 is 関
(gūan), meaning cord made by blue thread, and got corrupted to 昆 (kūn).
—
Li Shizhen, Bencao Gangmu[10]
However kūnbù in Chinese and kombu
in Japanese are false friends. Since descriptions about kūnbù in Chinese documentaries
are abstract and inconsistent, it's impossible to identify what seaweed it was
exactly. For instance, Chen Cangqi (681-757) noted "kūnbù is produced in
the South China Sea; its leave is like a hand and the size is as same as a silver grass and a reed, is of red purple; the thin part of leave is seaweed",[10]
which reminds of wakame, arame, kurome, kajime (Ecklonia cava) or
something. Actually, at least in the time, kombu was not produced either in the
East nor in the South China Sea. Moreover, Li Shizhen classified, following
Zhang Yuxi, kūnbù and haidai (stands for kombu in Chinese) as different things[10]
and this classification has been continuing in China up to today.[11]
The other one is that it originated
from kompu standing for kombu in the Ainu language.[12]
Kompu in Ainu quite resembles gūanbù or kūnbù in Chinese, and it's possible to
assume one is a loanword from the other.
History
"Qūan resembles 綸 (lace, cord or rope). This is in the East China Sea."[13]
from the Erya (3rd-2nd century BC) and "Gūanbù, alias kūnbù" from the
Wupu Bencao (3rd century). Tao Hongjing(456-536) noted kūnbù is edible.[10]
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 (1060).[10]
Though seaweed is hard to find as
archaeological evidence because of its easy decomposition, some plant remains
of seaweed such as wakame are found in some ruins of the Jōmon Period[14]
and the fact leads the supposition that kombu was eaten as well at the time. As
to surviving documentary the letters 軍布 (In Sino-Japanese reading 軍 is gun/kun ; 布 is fu/pu/bu), appeared in Man'yōshū and wood strips from
Fujiwara-kyō, may have indicated kombu. The Shoku Nihongi(797) tells: in 797 Suga no Komahiru (ja) of Emishi (Ainu or Tohoku region people)
stated they had been offering up kombu, which grew there, as tribute to the Yamato court every year without fail. The Engishiki
(927) also tells it had been offered up by Mutsu.
During the Muromachi period, a newly developed drying technique allowed it to be stored
for more than a few days, and it became an important export from the Tohoku
area.[citation needed] 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 it 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 Japanese in particular, food shops and restaurants, and has later
been sold by supermarkets, health-food stores, and other nonspecialised
suppliers.
Cooking
Kombu is used extensively in Japanese cuisines as one of the three main ingredients needed to make dashi,
a soup stock. Kombu is sold dried (dashi kombu) or pickled in
vinegar (su kombu) or as a dried shred (boro kombu or shiraga
kombu). It may also be eaten fresh in sashimi.
Making kombu dashi is simple, though the powder form may also be used. A
strip of dried kombu in cold water, then heated to near-boiling, is the
first step of making dashi and the softened kombu is commonly
eaten after cooking. It can also be 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, "seaweed tea", is a beverage brewed from dried
and powdered kombu. This is sometimes confused with the unrelated
English word kombucha, an incorrect yet accepted neologism
for the fermented and sweetened tea from Russia, which is called kōcha kinoko
(紅茶キノコ) in Japan.
Nutrition
and health effects
Kombu is a good source of glutamic acid,
an amino acid responsible for umami, the Japanese word used for one of
the five basic tastes
in addition to salty, sweet, sour, and bitter, identified in 1908. 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.[15]
Biofuel
Genetically manipulated E. coli
bacteria can digest kombu into ethanol,
making it a possible maritime biofuel
source.[16][17]
Prominent
species
(Japanese name followed by species)
- Karafuto kombu
(Saccharina latissima),
contains mannitol and is considered sweeter
- Ma-kombu
(Saccharina japonica)
- Mitsuishi-kombu
or dashi-kombu (Saccharina angustata), commonly used in the making of
dashi
- Naga-kombu
(Saccharina longissima)
- Rishiri-kombu
(Saccharina ochotensis), commonly used
for soup stocks
See
also
The entire wiki article can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kombu
The intent of this post is to suggest we humans can eat a
whole lot of things, often things our cultures don't always include.
No comments:
Post a Comment