Species sheet · The Edible Ocean

laver

On the rock it is purple and slippery, not yet the black sheet of a maki roll.

Dried and toasted into sushi sheets
Crumbled over rice or a broth
As a briny condiment in butter

laver in its natural habitat, Umay image — *Neopyropia yezoensis* · Umay image, generated from a reference photograph

In French: Nori vivant
Scientific name: Neopyropia yezoensis
In the water: Attached to rock high on the shore of exposed coasts; emerges at every low tide.
Season & buying: Hand-picked off exposed rocks from May to mid-November, on the biggest tides; look for deep purple, glossy fronds, never yellowing at the edges.
Common length: ~30 cm
How to identify it: Very thin, almost translucent blade
Purplish brown to deep violet
Anchored to rock high on the shore

On the plate

Briny and direct raw, it turns nutty and sweet as soon as it dries.

Avoid: Gathering it on a rock exposed to harbour or outfall water: it concentrates everything.

The nori sheet as we know it was invented around 1750, when Asakusa papermakers applied the washi paper technique to the alga, spreading it on bamboo screens.

laver

On the plate

In Umay recipes