Wakame

Wakame (Undaria pinnatifida) is a species of <a href="/facts/Kelp/XGohrJEJ">kelp</a> native to cold, temperate coasts of the northwest <a href="/facts/Pacific_Ocean/bdxgXRVM">Pacific Ocean</a>. As an <a href="/facts/Edible_seaweed/p9BGe1Fc">edible seaweed</a>, it has a subtly sweet, but distinctive and strong flavour and satiny texture. It is most often served in soups and salads.
Wakame has long been collected for food in East Asia, and sea farmers in Japan have cultivated wakame since the eighth century (<a href="/facts/Nara_period/oEFJgP7V">Nara period</a>).
Although native to cold, temperate coastal areas of Japan, Korea, China, and Russia, it has established itself in temperate regions around the world, including New Zealand, the United States, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Argentina, Australia and Mexico. As of 2018<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wakame&action=edit">[update]</a>, the Invasive Species Specialist Group has listed the species on its <a href="/facts/List_of_globally_invasive_species/5b6Sxspb">list of 100 worst globally invasive species</a>.
Wakame, as with all other kelps and <a href="/facts/Brown_algae/u4PWxxkC">brown algae</a>, is plant-like in appearance, but is unrelated to true plants, being, instead, a photosynthetic, multicellular <a href="/facts/Stramenopile/6zmwHPEU">stramenopile</a> protist of the <a href="/facts/SAR_supergroup/XCgKgojf">SAR supergroup</a>.

Wakame open-in-new

Wakame