Irish moss

A close-up photo of soaked irish moss... Freaky :)

Irish moss is one of the most well-known sea vegetables in the world. It is a healthy sea weed and it can work as another source of protein for vegans. Amongst others it´s rich in iodine, sulfur and selenium, and can be a great source of vitamin D, E and K as well. It consists mainly of carrageenan, minerals and proteins. The Iris moss is still very healthy :) It´s one of the few living sources of collagen, which is great for your skin, hair, nails and joints.

Thanks to its properties, raw foodists love to use it in the kitchen, it´s often used for making jelly. Here I´ll show you how I made irish moss into a jelly consistency.

In its dry state, it´s very sandy and salty, as if it came right off the beach. The first thing you´ll have to do is have it sit in a glass bowl, full of water for over 24 hours. You will want to rinse it thoroughly to get all the salt and sand off of it, only after that, you will have a product you can work with.

Before and after

Put it in a high-speed blender, like Vitamix, and mix it really well, for at least a minute. Usually I pour just enough water in the Vitamix to have the moss covered in water, or maybe use a little less of the water.

What you will get is a jelly-like substance, just like on the photo here. I like to use mason jars, because glass is the best material to store food in.

I heard it can last in the fridge several months, but I have never tried. The longest period I had it in the fridge, was about a month, and it was still as good as in the beginning. After it is cooled down, you end up with this gelatinous consistency. I put a table spoon of it into my protein shakes, and that´s how I eat all of it.