But unprocessed sea vegetables haven't caught on much outside of Asia. It's a shame, since they're dense with vitamins, minerals, and protein, yet low in calories. You can usually find plastic bags of dehydrated sea vegetables in health food stores, or in the Asian foods section of larger supermarkets. After rehydrating, chop them up and add them to salads, soups, stews, or stir-fries. This popular seaweed is very sweet and mild, and it's loaded with iron, calcium, and iodine.
Some people eat it raw, like beef jerky.
It's rich in iron. The Chinese add this to soups and use it as a garnish. Look for it in Chinese markets and pharmacies. Hijiki has a mild flavor, so it's a good choice if you want to slip a sea vegetable unobtrusively into your soups and stews in order to fortify them with calcium, iron, and other nutrients. When rehydrated, it roughly quadruples in size, so a little goes a long way.