Mozuku - Mozuku

Japanese: モズク - もずく

A brown alga, a member of the Cladosiaceae family. Its body is very soft, rich in mucus, and dark brown. It is a highly branched, thread-like shape, about 1 mm in diameter, and 30 cm to 1 meter long, but its volume is small. It is an annual alga that grows by wrapping itself around the bodies of Sargassum species that grow in the open sea, and flourishes from spring to early summer. Because it is a warm-water species, it is widely distributed along most of the coasts south of the Tohoku region, but its main habitat is the open sea side of the Noto Peninsula and around the islands on the west side of the Seto Inland Sea. Other species that are eaten as sanbaizu (vinegared vinegar) like mozuku include Tinocladia crassa (Futo mozuku), Sphaerotrichia divaricata (Ishi mozuku), and Cladosiphon okamuranus (Okinawa mozuku). These three species are members of the Cladosiphonaceae family, and all of them are thicker than mozuku. In addition, the Wamyō Ruijushō, a book written in the Heian period, uses the character 'kezuku' to refer to mozuku.

[Moriaki Shinzaki]

Food

The young buds are harvested in early spring and sold commercially as salted products with a large amount of salt added, but in recent years more are sold on the market after being thoroughly desalted and served with sanbai-zu vinegar. The light brown ones are new, while the dark brown ones have a faint aroma. It is a food that allows you to enjoy the scent of the seashore, and is said to be effective in preventing high blood pressure. Salted products are washed several times in water to remove the salt and eaten with sanbai-zu vinegar, but it becomes a fun dish if you top it with a quail egg or chopped ginger. It can also be eaten as zosui (rice porridge).

[Moriaki Shinzaki]

[Reference] | Seaweed

Major types of brown algae (2) [specimen drawings and photographs]
※Instructors: Makoto Yoshizaki ©Fukuko Aoki ©Kanezo Otawa ©Shogakukan ">

Major types of brown algae (2) [specimen illustrations and labels]

Stone Mozuku
The photo shows an Ishimozuku seaweed attached to the seaweed Yatsumata. © Underwater Fort Enterprise, Isamu Soyama ">

Stone Mozuku

Ishimozuku (food)
©Shogakukan ">

Ishimozuku (food)

Okinawa mozuku (food)
©Shogakukan ">

Okinawa mozuku (food)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

褐藻植物、モズク科の海藻。体は粘質に富んできわめて柔らかく、暗褐色を呈する。分枝の多い糸状形で径1ミリメートル内外、体長は30センチメートルから1メートルほどとなるが、容量は小さい。外海に生育するホンダワラ類の体上に巻き付いて着生し、春から初夏にかけて繁茂する一年生藻。温海性のため、分布は東北地方以南のほとんどの沿岸と広いが、主産地は能登(のと)半島外海側、瀬戸内海の西側の諸島周辺などである。モズクと同様に三杯酢として食べるものにフトモズクTinocladia crassa、イシモズクSphaerotrichia divaricata、オキナワモズクCladosiphon okamuranusがある。これら3種はナガマツモ科の海藻で、いずれも径はモズクよりも太めである。なお、平安時代の『倭名類聚抄(わみょうるいじゅしょう)』ではモズクに「毛都久」の字をあてている。

［新崎盛敏］

食品

春先の若い芽を採取し、多量の塩を加えた塩蔵品として市販されるが、近年は十分塩抜きし、三杯酢を添えて市場に出ているもののほうが多い。淡い茶褐色をしたものが新しく、黒っぽい茶色をしたものには香りの抜けたものがある。磯(いそ)の香りを楽しむ食品で、高血圧防止に効用ありという。塩蔵品は水で数回洗って塩抜きし、三杯酢で食べるが、上にウズラの卵をのせたり、針しょうがをかけると楽しい一品となる。もずく雑炊(ぞうすい)としても食べる。

［新崎盛敏］

[参照項目] | 海藻

褐藻植物のおもな種類(2)〔標本画・標…

イシモズク

イシモズク（食品）

オキナワモズク（食品）

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例

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