A Trio of Toasted Nori Chips

From left:  Nori Faux Wasabi, Nori Con Chipotle, and Nori Coco Szechuan.

I have a little fascination going with sea vegetables.  Mr. Eating the Scenery, however, eschews them.  I recall a long-ago salad I made with hiziki ... he said it tasted like a locker room smelled.  The gauntlet was thrown.  But in the intervening years, he has yet to even taste anything I make with sea vegetables!

So this recipe caught my attention.  But I had to mess with it.  I went slightly crazy.  It's the curse of culinary curiosity.  If ingredient x works, why not try ingredient y?  And then, z?

I used Nancy's recipe, and it is perfect. She uses 3 tablespoons of water per five nori sheets. I started out using too much water on the wasabi flavored chips, and the folded nori stuck fast to itself, took 30 minutes to crisp, and the layers didn't curl and separate airily like the subsequent batches where I brushed on less of the water mixture. So ... curb any heavy-handed liquid tendencies!


A TRIO OF TOASTED NORI CHIPS
Adapted from The Smart Palate

I didn't have wasabi powder, so used horseradish.  I love silicone basting brushes ... they work really well for this, clean up fabulously in the dishwasher, and you don't have to pick bristles off of your food.

For each flavor:

5 sheets nori
salt to your taste

Nori Faux Wasabi
2 teaspoons Bubbies pure horseradish
3 tablespoons water

Nori con Chipotle
2 teaspoons chipotle puree
3 tablespoons water

Nori Coco Szechuan
2 teaspoons coconut aminos (a very useful soy sauce substitute)
3 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons ground Szechuan pepper, sprinkled on before folding nori.
No salt for this one; the coconut aminos are very salty

Heat oven to 250 degrees.

Brush a sheet of nori with liquid mixture.  Sprinkle with salt to taste.  Fold in half and press lightly.  With kitchen shears, cut nori into five or six strips.  Repeat with remaining nori sheets.  This is like craft class in grade school!  And you get to eat your project!

Lay the chips in a single layer on a Silpat-lined baking sheet.  Place in oven for 12 to 15 minutes.  Chips will crisp and begin to curl a bit.  When they're dry and crisp, remove to cool.

You can brush them with hot sesame oil as Nancy did, or hot chili oil, I suppose.  I didn't have any spicy oils, so I didn't ... but I think it would be very delicious.

I put all my chips in the same bowl, so I could be surprised by different tastes!

Each batch makes about 30 scrumptious chips.  None of which Mr. Eating the Scenery would touch.