IT’S a classic side dish for many when ordering a Chinese.
But did you know that crispy seaweed isn’t actually made from the sea vegetable?
Well, it turns out that you aren’t the only one left stunned by the revelation that the popular side is actually made from spring greens.
Nigel Thompson, who regularly posts recipes on his social media pages, took to TikTok to share his version of crispy seaweed.
“So the ingredients you need – spring greens,” he began.
“Some people still think it’s real seaweed.
“Really?”
He then went on to shred the greens – removing the main stem of each left, rolling tightly and then cutting thin strips with a sharp knife.
Once that was done, he washed the strips, and placed them on a tea towel, with another on top to ensure they were dry.
Nigel then added some oil, before putting the mixture into the air fryer.
“So on full power, we’re just going to cook them, we’ll keep turning them and keep tossing them,” he said.
“Every couple of minutes just give them a little toss.”
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=” I used to get takeaway kebabs every night then fell in love with the delivery man – he’s 42 years older but it’s love ” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6353502232112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]Once finished, he took the seaweed out, and added some sugar and a little salt to finish it off.
And while lots of people praised Nigel for sharing the recipe on TikTok, others admitted they were still struggling to come to terms with his spring greens revelation.
“I was today years old when I learned that it was not actual seaweed,” one gasped.
“You’re not the first!” Nigel replied.
“I’m 41 and just learnt it’s not seaweed,” another admitted.
“Omg it’s not seaweed it’s just greens!” a third marvelled.
“I was one of the folk who thought it was real seaweed till a few weeks ago,” someone else said.
“To this day I really thought it was real seaweed!” another wrote.
“Only realised recently that it wasn’t actual seaweed,” someone else added.
As another admitted: “I spent years deep frying every type of seaweed I could find before I, by pure chance, watched a Chinese cook use bok choi in a YouTube video.”
“Joining the didn’t know it wasn’t seaweed club at 51,” someone else laughed.
While other comments came from people who were stunned that others DIDN’T know what ‘seaweed’ is made from.
“Savoy cabbage works too,” one wrote.
“Always amazes me that people still think it’s actual real seaweed!”
“I love crispy seaweed and didn’t know it was so easy,” another praised.
“Thanks for this, going to make some ASAP.”
“I used to help make this when I worked at a Chinese wholesalers in Manchester,” a third commented.
“They finished it with a sprinkle of fish powder.”
“Tried this tonight for tea, it was AMAZING,” someone else gushed.
