Homemade Roasted Seaweed

My kids eat homemade roasted seaweed (gim-gui, 김구이) like snacks. The seaweed sheets are slightly salty, crisp, and delicious. I used to buy seasoned roasted seaweed from the store in bulk until I realized that homemade roasted seaweed is much healthier.

Seaweed is so good for you. Because of its great health benefits, more and more people are eating seaweed these days. You can easily buy packaged roasted seaweed at the store. But do you know that it is very easy to make homemade roasted seaweed? It will be much cheaper and healthier, too.

This is the kind of seaweed you need to get. We call it Parae-gim (파래김). It is different type of seaweed than the one that is used for making sushi (although you can also use the unroasted sushi seaweed for this).

What type of seaweed should you use for Roasting?

Parae-gim is a thinner seaweed with a finer texture. When you purchase this wonderful gim, make sure to check the expiration date. You don’t want old, expired, dried seaweed. Smell the gim if you can. If it smells slightly moldy and unpleasant, avoid it.

If the package is sealed and won’t let you smell, then check the color of the seaweed. Fresh, dried seaweed should be almost black with a hint of very subtle brownness. If the seaweed shows more of a red or purple tint throughout, it is old.

So here is how to make homemade roasted seaweed.

There is no printable recipe (You don’t need one). You will need following ingredients;

• 50 sheets of plain dried seaweed (parae-gim)
• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil or wild sesame oil + 1 tablespoon of grape seed oil (or 2 tbsp of olive oil)
• fine sea salt

All you need is oil and salt to season. For the choice of oil, you can use sesame oil, wild sesame oil (deul-girum, 들기름), olive oil, or grape seed oil.

I combined wild sesame oil and grape seed oil with 1:1 ratio this time. The easiest and fastest way to grease the entire seaweed sheets is using a disposable glove. (Of course you can use your bare hand if you don’t mind it becoming very greasy).

I roasted 50 sheets of seaweed and used about 1 tablespoon of each wild sesame oil and grape seed oil.

Just dab a little bit of oil with one finger and try to spread all over on your hand first.

Gently rub the seaweed sheets with your hand to spread on a very thin coat of oil. You don’t want too much oil on the seaweed. A very thin coat of oil will give a nice shine to the seaweed. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over the seaweed. The amount of salt is up to you. For me a pinch of salt is all I like.

By the way, you will want to do this on only one side of the seaweed, not on both sides.

Repeat the layers and continue on the seaweed as you stack them until all of the seaweed sheets are oiled and sprinkled with salt.

Heat the skillet over medium heat until hot.

Using kitchen tongs, pick up 2 sheets of seaweed at a time and lay them on the hot skillet. Within a second, it will shrink and toast the surface. The color of the seaweed will turn slightly green, too. Flip to the other side and continue to toast. It should only take between 3- 5 seconds on each side. Adjust the heat level accordingly if the seaweed toasts too fast or too slow.

Here are the homemade roasted seaweed. Perfectly roasted and seasoned! The wild sesame oil adds just right amount of fragrance that I like. Olive oil is wonderful, too.

Thin, crisp, and a hint of saltiness…

As a child, I always grabbed my rice with a piece of roasted seaweed. I refused to eat rice without them. Sometimes rice wrapped in the roasted seaweed and kimchi is all you need for a quick bite.

So how do you think? Do you want to try roast your own seaweed? I finished 50 sheets of seaweed in less than 20 minutes I think.

How to store the seaweed?

To store these homemade roasted seaweed pieces, put them in an airtight container or zip-lock bag. They can last fresh at room temperature for 2-3 days, or 2-3 months in a freezer. Make sure they are completely air-tight.  Do not store them in the fridge, though. They will get soggy if you do.

I hope you can try to make these addictive delicious roasted seaweed sheets at home. Once you do, you will never buy the store version again. Because homemade always tastes better and is healthier.

Oh, one more thing~!

Most roasting seaweed is sold in 100 sheets in a package. If you are not planning to roast them all at once, store the leftover seaweed in the freezer. Seaweed can go rancid quite fast, especially in a warm climate. By storing them in a freezer you can enjoy fresh seaweed throughout the year! Hooray ~!

~ Holly