I feel I’ve opened up a whole new world of true paleo “pasta”. I’m talking about the sea vegetable, kelp noodles. I was quite wary, but the noodles really were totally neutral in flavor. It did NOT taste like I was eating a “sea vegetable”. So I’m documenting my first experience cooking with kelp noodles as a success. While I am a fan of spaghetti squash, the kelp is more noodle-like. You can take your fork and twirl it… just like pasta. It’s crazy! You can’t do that with spaghetti squash (unless you totally undercook it on accident. I may have done that before, oops.) Back to the kelp. It’s is sturdy, resilient, long, doesn’t break easily, and even has some texture to it… a slight crunch. The noodles were even a bit curly, reminded me almost of ramen noodles. I did read that if you cook the noodles first the will lose that crunch and soften up a bit but I haven’t tried it yet.
I created this dish entirely to try and make these kelp noodles delicious. I went with more of an Asian inspiration, and am happy to share the finished product.
When you work with the noodles, take them out of the package and drain off any liquid. Using your hands, pull the noodles apart. They can be kind of condensed or packed together in the package, so loosen and “fluff” them up when you add them to the bowl. That’s it. They’re ready to eat raw. We ate this dish at room temperature.
If the raw kelp noodles make you uneasy, you can cook them by sautéing the noodles with the broccoli in that same step after you cook the shrimp and remove it from the pan. I recommend the other vegetables and herbs remain raw to add texture, crunch, and freshness to the dish, but in your kitchen, you’re the boss.
Substitutions. Tahini. If you don’t have tahini (which is just ground up sesame seeds), you could use any other nut or seed butter you like: almond butter, cashew butter, sunflower seed butter, whatever you like. Sambal, or garlic chili sauce. You’ll find it in the Asian section of the grocery. If you can’t find or don’t have sambal, you could substitute it for your favorite hot sauce or sriracha. If you want more info on this ingredient, you can ready about it in one of my earlier posts, here or just do a quick google on it. Napa cabbage. I like Napa cabbage best versus green, purple, or savoy cabbage in the raw form because it is so tender. Feel free to use any type of cabbage you like, in fact the purple would be a colorful addition. Kelp noodles. If you’re not feeling adventurous enough to try the kelp and you’re not following the paleo diet, heck you could even sub rice noodles or whole wheat spaghetti. If you’re following the paleo diet, you could make zucchini or yellow squash noodles, or use spaghetti squash.
- 8-12 ounces uncooked, raw shrimp
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and grated (or minced)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 large carrot, cut into matchsticks
- ¼ of a Napa cabbage, thinly sliced
- 2 green onions, sliced
- 6 oz. kelp noodles, drained
- 1 small head of broccoli, chopped
- 2 tablespoons mint, thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons basil, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup tahini
- 3 tablespoons coconut aminos
- 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons sambal (garlic chili sauce)
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 tablespoon honey/ maple syrup/ agave (optional)
- Combine shrimp in a medium bowl with 1 T olive oil, garlic, ginger, and salt and pepper to taste.
- With a fork or small whisk, mix together all ingredients listed under tahini sauce in a small bowl until smooth. Set aside.
- In a large bowl combine carrots, cabbage, green onion, and kelp noodles. Set aside.
- Heat 1 T olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add shrimp to the pan in one even layer. Cook for about 2-3 minutes on one side. Flip shrimp and cook about 1 more minute, until all have just turned pink. Remove shrimp from pan, and reserve on a plate.
- In the same pan, add a little more olive oil then add the broccoli. Cook about 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add to large bowl with other vegetables and noodles.
- Next add tahini sauce, mint, and basil to the veggies and noodles. Toss to combine.
- Serve with shrimp on top. Garnish with your choice of sesame seeds, green onion, mint, basil, or toasted almonds.
Have you cooked with kelp noodles before? Was this your first time also? I’m so curious to hear what you think about them!
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