Hawaiian Limu Seaweed
The water is a place where marine plants grow as I was told by a few eldars sitting outside of the fish market. Eating their poke they went on to explain to me about how different seaweeds were important to home made poke mixtures and have changed over the years. Going to forage for limu (seaweed) was an interesting experience either during the dive or walking on limu that was on the beach or even tickling the feet underwater. The Hawaii seaweed when taken care from the Hawaiians would be famously bountiful. But as more waves of settlers came to the area the seaweeds started to vanish from the beachs and the rocks. There are still groups in the community who are trying to educate people in Hawaii about Hawaii's seaweed and are looking at ways to restore and make use of seaweed to bring it back into fashion. Women (Wahine) were mostly responsible for gathered limu and would often times bring children (Keiki) to assist them. Everything was harvested by hand and they would be storing it in gourd containers that would be tied to their waist. Hawaiian chants and songs mention that there was a strong odorous Seaweed smell from the underwater seaweed beds. Hawaiian Limu Planting Queen Liliu‘okalani brought Maui native sea plants to Oahu that would cover the rocks that would see seen as the first attempted Limu restoration. It was a underwater garden that would be left to grow for cultivation until it was ready to harvest. A few notable researchers of Hawaiian Limu are: Isabella Abbott "First Lady of Limu" and author of La'au Hawai'i "Bible of Hawai‘i’s edible seaweeds", Napua Barrows, Wally Ito "Uncle Wally", and Henry Change Wo. Limu flourishes near fresh water streams of where the mountain waters meet the sea waters (wai meets the kai) where two waters meet. It is important to its growth and would have restoration methods developed for its return. Hibiscus Rope (hau cordage) would be used to secure seaweed to rocks that would then be submerged so they could recover. Nutritional Value of the Hawaiian Diet Pre-contact Hawaii, Hawaiians consumed seaweeds for its nutrition of: Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin B12, and Riboflavin, as well as for its flavor. Each variety of edible seaweeds had something different in regards to texture and meaning or even as a sort of offering. It was often eaten with fishs, nuts, poke, salads, pois, and stews. It is known as a great superfood of the Hawaiian cuisine is the many seaweeds that have been important to the diet for its nutrition to Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians). It is also seen widely in the diets of Scottish, Japanese, China, and Korea. There is much more to the sea vegetable as it is a marine plant as well as a algae that grows in the ocean, rivers, lakes. Hawaiians made had many uses for seaweed and made "Limu Leis", Limu dyes, and Limu based medicines. Hawaiian Limu Varieties The popular edible seaweeds that can be found in Hawaii today is: Foot Limu (Wawae'iole), Hina Limu (Lepe-o-hina), Black Limu ('Ele'ele), Kohu Limu (Kohu), Kala Limu (Kala), Spread Limu (Palahalaha), Lipoa Limu (Lipoa), Red Ogo (Manauea), Gorilla Ogo (invasive), Old Hawaii Seaweed and Dashi Kupuna (elders) Hawaiians who married into Japanese families would pass on their ways of preserving the important seaweed through techniques passed on from both sides. It had brought the ability to understand the health of an area based on its limu quantities of if it was abundant or not. In Hawaii, the areas that would be observed were the land-areas "ahupua'a" as a way to understand the connection of the forest and the ocean in its bond and reliance. Varieties that have become common place in modern Hawaii cuisine are: Kelp used as Kombu, Hijiki Seaweed used as Nori (Porphyra). The Japanese years later during the plantation era would bring with them the techniques of cellar conservation (Kuragakoi) which would be called the "Japanese Limu Method". As their intermarried in Hawaiian families they would have to make use of the local seaweed in the general diet in case they could not import "Kombu". Years later dashi would be looked back again in the plantation era in the 1930s and would start developing in the 1940s from the abundance of seaweeds. There were many more spices introduced during this time from the Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Okinawan, Korean, Peurto Rican, and Portuguese that came from boat to work the plantation. This would further diversify the recipes of dashis available in Hawaii and would differentiate those from Japan. Vanishing Beds of Seaweed In 1960s, many seaweeds which were once abundant had begun to dissapear from rocks and from the shores. This was most likely from the amount of tourism that brought many swimmers to fill the waters with sun tan lotion which would have prevented much of the growth. Streams would start to relocate much of the water away from the traditional Hawaiian seaweed beds and many of them would begin to disappear making seaweed a rare sight. And the demand for seaweed would continue to grow with seaweed over harvesting occurring and threatening the seafood food-chain. Certain locals would have access to secret locations across the Hawaiian islands with each having their own spot. A place they could safely harvest and protect the seaweed for their own family and friends and many were of Hawaiian heritage or Japanese heritage with skills passed down from the family. Seafood markets would have to depend on these suppliers in secret as well almost making seaweed to be worth its weight in sea plant gold. Limu Furikake Seasoning A Hawaiian-Japanese Seaweed supplier on Kauai had a lifestyle that would be surviving from the treasures of the ocean. He would go fishing, grew a vegetable garden, and limu planted so the smell of "Lipoa" and the smell of fish through the "Dry Box" that would have nets covering them to keep bugs away from the drying fish. When I had spoke to him he refused to state his location as it could lead to the seaweed garden (limu) to disappear from unwanted Limu Pickers. He had pickling jars full of dried salted seaweed (limu) that was mixed with roasted nuts (inamona- candle nut), dried salted kelp (shio kombu), Hawaiian sea salt, and limu seaweed like: Lipoa Limu, Wawae‘iole Limu, Kohu Limu, and ‘Ele‘ele Limu. Some of the mixtures had dried bits of fish and referred it as Hawaiian Furikake. He said in his family it was a staple condiment in his Hawaiian hale (house) using Kohu Limu and Ele'ele Limu the most. Looking for more information from others in the area there was many uses for kombu mixtures including adding savoriness that penetrates the meat that is enjoyed from locals. It is also used in oven-baked recipes, as well as underground-oven recipes, and as a secret ingredient to home-made poke. It would appear that it would be not a typical seaweed mixture but "Limu Furikake".
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