Seaweed has been part of the daily East Asian diet for millennia. Nori seaweed is certainly among the best known and appreciated in cooking, even outside of Asia.

The use of Nori in ramen is a personal choice and can also vary depending on the region. Some ramen restaurants may offer Nori as an additional option to customize the dish, allowing customers to add it to taste.

What is nori?

Nori is a type of edible seaweed that comes in thin, paper-like sheets. It is popular as a wrapper for sushi and onigiri, as well as in spice blends such as furikake and shichimi togarashi.

Nori is one of the types of edible seaweed generally consumed in Japan and other Asian regions, both as a snack and as a condiment for meals. While other varieties such as kombu and hijiki are used after being rehydrated, nori is often simply placed on the plate to absorb natural moisture.

Nori seaweed is a type of red algae that belongs to the genus Porphyra ( Bagiophyceae ) and originates in eastern Asia.

As for the flavor, you wouldn't be wrong if you said it has a "sea" taste. This is because it has a predominantly salty but slightly sweet flavour, typical of seafood.

History of topping

The history of this algae dates back to the year 702, when it was first mentioned in the Taiho Codex. And numerous local accounts submitted to the governing body mention how people dried and consumed a form of nori in Izumo and Hitachi provinces in the late 8th century.

It wasn't until the Edo period, starting in 1603, that nori was produced in a form similar to the thin leaves we know today. The Asakusa region saw the first production of nori sheets.

Interestingly, nori was originally used as a generic term for many different types of marine plant productions. But following the improvement of processing techniques, most of the distinct species have obtained their own names and consumption techniques.

Because nori goes well with ramen

To understand why nori pairs so well with ramen, and how it combines with every ramen flavor, we need to look at what makes nori great as a food in itself.

The answer lies in its particular combination of flavor, shape and texture, as well as its ability to transform once it sits in a hot bowl of noodles and a good, flavorful broth.

Nori is a plant that grows naturally in salt water. This means it already has a propensity to be immersed in saline solutions, such as ramen broth. This means that it retains its natural flavor when eaten paired with it and doesn't take on the sweeter, sweeter-sour flavors that some types of ramen have.

One thing we often ignore when talking about what makes a topping great is the visual element. Nori is one of those condiments that looks good when placed in a bowl. The strong contrast with the caramel or light brown ramen broth, the white of the noodles, and the orange of the ajitama yolk creates a fantastic visual mix that precedes the flavors.

There are times when nori is also cut into thin strips, not much wider than noodles. In this way they go easily with noodle-based dishes because, once hydrated, they mix well with the noodles themselves.

With the classic flavors of ramen, however, nori seaweed pairs very well. In fact, it is one of the main toppings in many Japanese ramen restaurants.

Keyword: Umami.