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Dried Serrated Wrack
Dried Serrated Wrack is a traditional British recipe for a classic method of drying the seaweed, Serrated Wrack (Fucus serratus) for later use in teas, stews, and soups. Several methods are presented to account for a ranger of weather conditions. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Dried Serrated Wrack.
prep time
20 minutes
cook time
15 minutes
Total Time:
35 minutes
Additional Time:
(+7 hours washing and drying)
Serves:
4
Rating: 
Tags : Wild FoodBritish Recipes
This is a classic method for producing dried serrated wrack [or bladderwrack] (
Fucus) Atlantic kelp (
Bladderwrack) that can be kept for a long time and used in any calling for Fucus or Bladderwrack. The methods presented here are based on traditional Chinese drying methods.
Good serrated wrack dries at a ratio of about 6:1 (so 6kg fresh bladderwrack will give you about 1kg dried fucus) so that you do not need to harvest excessive amounts from the seashore.
Method:
The key is to pick the freshest serrated wrack possible. Make certain that the plant is still alive and attached to its anchor (it's best to collect at the low tide mark or in rock pools.
If at all possible the serrated wrack should simply be sun-dried as this gives maximal flavour and nutrient retention. If you live by the sea and have a sunny day in mid August then set a black plastic sheet in your garden in the morning. Go to the seaside and pick the bladderwrack. When you get home, wash this thoroughly then lay out on the plastic sheet so that none of the fronds are touching (trim away the stipes and holdfasts). On a bright, sunny, day, the bladder wrack will be semi-dry in about 3 hours and needs to be turned over and they will be completely dry in 6 hours.
If you pick on a rainy or cloudy day then you can pack the serrated wrack in a box, salting between each layer of salt. This will keep the algae so you can wash and then sun dry when it's sunny (but the salt will destroy some of the nutrients). You can also oven dry by placing the bladderwrack in single layers on baking trays and drying in an oven pre-heated to 50°C for about 4 hours (but this is a relatively harsh method and does not produce as god a product as sun drying). Alternately you can leave on a sunny windowsill or in a conservatory turning twice a day, but using this method will take you about 2 days to dry the seaweed.
When dry store in air-tight boxes (you can also freeze). To use, re-constitute in hot water for about 20 minutes then chop and add to your dish. It makes an excellent addition to any stew or soup (where it acts as a flavouring and thickener) and also makes a very nutritious tea.
Dried serrated wrack can be sliced into strips and deep fry (do not fry before drying, or the result can be explosive) it can also be rendered to a powder and makes an excellent flavouring additive to soups and stews. As this seaweed also contains mucilin adding a little to stews and stocks acts as a thickening agent.
