Konbu Maki are tightly rolled konbu (kelp/seaweed) bound with a ribbon of kanpyo (gourd strips) simmered in a soy-sugar-dashi sauce.
I never made this dish before until last year.
I was at my in-law's place and saw 2 kitchen drawers filled with dried konbu. So I asked my father-in-law what he does with all that konbu. He showed me my late mother-in-law's konbu maki recipe and said that it's an Okinawan specialty that my sister-in-law makes every year in January for a family gathering.
Konbu has been an important part of Japanese food since the Heian period (AD 794-1185), with the earliest Japanese poems referring to seaweed during that time. Seaweed gathering and salting became an art, and with the spread of Buddhism came the increase in consumption of seaweed. In the 14th Century, Japanese merchants began trading seaweed, and dried konbu spread from Hokkaido to ports all along the Sea of Japan, and later as far as China through the Ryukyu Islands. With trade, each city began to develop their own recipes for konbu.
The word konbu sounds like "yorokobu" which means "to be happy" in Japanese, and thus Konbu Maki became popular during the New Year, when "lucky foods" are eaten to bring good fortune throughout the year. You will find these delicacies in a traditional Japanese New Year's feast. In Japan, konbu maki is typically filled with salted salmon or herring; in the southern islands of Okinawa where pork is the favored meat, konbu maki is filled with pork belly. Vegetarians will fill konbu maki with match sticks of carrots, gobo (burdock root) or enoki mushrooms. All are simmered in a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, and dashi to bring out the umami (natural monosodium glutamate [MSG]) abundant in seaweed. As an aside for you chemistry buffs out there, MSG was discovered in 1908 as the chemical basis for the umami flavor by Kikunae Ikeda, a Japanese chemist. No wonder this dish is soooooooo yummy!
So far, I've made konbu maki 3 times. The first 2 times I wrapped pieces of pork butt; and this time wrapped chicken thigh meat. All 3 times, I did not have dashi broth, so I improvised by throwing in a hand full of dried shrimp-- after all, dashi is nothing more than a stock made of just konbu + dried anchovies or bonito flakes. Still tasted pretty darn good.
Don't wait for new year's to make this umami filled dish--cuz everyone can use an extra boost of good fortune and happiness!!!
PS: Pictured above are two freezer meal bento boxes where the chicken konbu maki is served with a side of rice and Okinawan purple sweet potatoes.
Update on Jan 2, 2020: If you wrap pork butt meat instead of chicken thigh meat with the konbu, then simmer for 1.5 hours instead of just 1 hour. Otherwise, everything else in the recipe is the same.
Update on Jan 15, 2023: Here’s Konbu Maki with Pork where the bundles are tied together with wilted green onions because I didn’t have the dried gourd.
Yields 6 servings
Recipe adapted from my mother in law's hand typed/written recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 package of 2.5 oz nishime konbu (dried kelp strips, found in dried food aisle of Japanese grocery stores)
- 1 package of 1.76 oz kanpyo (dried gourd shavings, found in dried food aisle of Japanese grocery stores)
- 3 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 2 T soy sauce
- ½ t garlic powder
- 1 T dried onions
Ingredients for sauce:
- 2/3 c soy sauce
- 2/3 c sugar
- 1 T mirin
- 1 small knob of ginger (cut into several large pieces)
- 2 T dried shrimp
- 2 c water
Procedures:
- Soak konbu in water for 10 min until soft and pliable. Rinse, strain, and cut each strip into 6 pieces. Set aside
- Soak Kanpyo in water for 10 min. Drain and set aside
- Rinse dried shrimp, drain and set aside.
- Peel ginger and cut into large pieces and set aside.
- Cut each chicken thigh into 3 equal pieces. Marinate with 2 T soy sauce, ½ t garlic powder and 1 T dried onions for 10-15 min.
- Place a piece of chicken on one end of the konbu piece and roll tightly. Tie the bundle together with a piece of Kanpyo. (see photos)
- Arrange bundles in a pot.
- In a bowl, mix together ingredients for the sauce and pour over the konbu maki.
- Bring pot to a boil and then low to a simmer. Simmer for 1 hour. Serve with sauce.