Tororo kombu

Tororo kombu

What it is

Blocks of kombu steep in vinegar until the surface softens, are pressed together and then shaved: taken by hand along the flat they come away as translucent sheets called oboro, and taken against the pressed edge of a stack they come away as the wool-fine threads called tororo. The vinegar is why the threads taste faintly sour and slip apart the instant they touch hot liquid.

In the kitchen

It is a finish, not a stock ingredient — add it in the bowl, at the table, or it melts to mucilage. A pinch with an umeboshi, a little soy and hot water is a soup on its own.

Goes with

Rice Umeboshi Soba noodles Soy sauce Katsuobushi (dried bonito) Silken tofu (kinugoshi)

Same species

Gagome kombu Kombu Royal kombu Ma-kombu

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