Alaria
Alaria esculenta
This plant is similar to wakame; it is the standard sea vegetable for miso soup. Unlike some wakame, it has not been blanched in boiling water, prior to drying. I harvest only the delicate annual plants, in the upper zones, during the months of May and June. I leave the deeper perennial plants to insure that the annual zone will always regenerate. Alaria is rapid-growing, tenacious, and flexible. It thrives in surf, and it has a very clean smell.
