This kombu seaweed is harvested from the North Island of NZ, dried naturally to preserve nutrients and tested for contaminants in accordance with the ANZ Food Code.
Kombu is essentially kelp seaweed, which has been laid flat to dry in a particular way.  We offer our Kombu seaweed in two formats:
- Strips (which tend to have more intense flavour than the leaves). These are made from the stipe of the kelp seaweed. We supply strips in either 40g or 180g options – scroll and click below to select your choice.
- Leaves (flavourful but with less intensity per leaf than the strips). Leaves are made from the kelp’s fronds. We supply leaves in either 15g or 80g options – scroll and click below to select your choice.
Using Kombu  – easily add essential micronutrients to your food
Kombu offers a vegan or vegetarian source of umami* flavour and is a very popular ingredient in Japanese cooking. Add nutritious, flavourful Kombu seaweed to infuse stocks and soups, or add umami flavour to your sauces. Infuse drinks for a unique umami flavour which is brimming with micronutrients, minerals and vitamins.
If you have any left over, use it to water your house plants or for a DIY facial as it’s full of nutrients and minerals – your skin will thank you for it!
How to Use Kombu Seaweed Strips?
Soak a Kombu strip or leaf in tepid water and gradually warm the water (don’t boil it), allowing the nutrients and flavour to seep into the water. Then use this flavourful, nutrient enriched infused water as the base of your stock or broth. Make up a broth or stock and freeze for future use.
The species we harvest is Ecklonia radiata which tastes delicious. However the texture of this species is fairy tough, so whilst a few do brave eating the strips or leaves after they have soaked them, we prefer not to! Instead I put used strips and or leaves in my worm farm or compost bin. Some of the species available overseas have softer textures and are OK to eat after soaking.
Try any number of our recipes in the links below.
Health benefits of Kombu Seaweed?
Kelp, a brown seaweed, is widely regarded as the best natural, most concentrated source of iodine – an essential nutrient for human health – specifically linked to immunity, thyroid, brain, ovarian and breast health. Iodine is an essential nutrient for the production of a hormone called thyroxin which helps to regulate many body functions. It has also been linked to apoptosis (cell death) which is critical to fighting cancer – particularly thyroid and breast cancer.
We like to refer to this Harvard study, which encourages improving diet in the first instance, before adding made-made nutritional supplements. Most nutrients are more potent when they come from our food and have not been processed in a lab. Plus, food tastes better and is often cheaper than nutritional supplements, not to mention less of a hassle as you can simply add it to what you are already eating or preparing to eat.
In addition to iodine, Kelp/Kombu also offers a range of other nutrients (such as calcium and magnesium) and beneficial compounds including Alginates, fucoidan, laminarins and lignans.
We have read many articles about how kombu has also supported those trying to lose weight – as the thyroid is stimulated, digestion is improved and overall health is optimised.
Adding Umami flavour to your meals with Kombu broth*
You may notice the white powder which sits on a kombu leaf or strip…. this is the result of the amino acid, glutamine, which naturally rises to the surface as the kelp frond as it dries. This what powder is not to be mistaken for mould. It is the very thing that gives kombu is prized flavour.
How we harvest, test our pack our Kombu seaweed
Our kombu leaves and strips are wild harvested from the pristine waters of the North island of New Zealand, then air dried naturally to preserve their dense nutritional value.
Pacific Harvest specialises in seaweed, and has been trusted by the nutritional community since 2002. We test all our kombu for contaminants in external labs, before packing them by hand in our food grade facility in Auckland.
We recently removed the zip lock from our bags to reduce the amount of overall plastic in the bag. Please use the resealable sticker we provide to keep moisture out.
Recycling the packaging around our Kombu Seaweed
We recently added cardboard boxes to our range to ensure the stores who stock these products can stand them on shelf as the pouches we previously used fell over constantly! Please pop the boxes into your worm farm, or in kerb side cardboard recycling.
The plastic pouch can be recycled through soft plastic recycling schemes. Ideally we’d not use plastic but as seaweeds are hygroscopic (attract moisture) we need to ensure we can keep the seaweeds food safe. Compostable options don’t currently provide adequate moisture barriers. Please read more on our packaging journey here.
Ingredients:Â Kelp (Ecklonia radiata) dried seaweed 100%.
A word of warning on iodine
Kelp offers an insane amount of naturally occurring iodine. Please pay attention to the serving size suggestions on pack and consult a health care professional if you have concerns about your health or further questions about iodine.
 Read our blog for more info on KombuÂ
Try these recipes with Kombu Seaweed
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