Top 5 Secret Ocean Superfoods You’ve Probably Never Tried

If you're a regular reader here, you know about our passion for marine phytoplankton as the ultimate superfood and our deep love for the ocean and its ecosystems.

We also have a profound appreciation for fish and seafood as incredibly healthy and potentially sustainable food sources. Recently, a team member mentioned an incredible meal of abalone they had enjoyed. Abalone? Many of us had never heard of it, let alone tasted it.

It turns out abalone is a delicious and sustainable food choice. This discovery made us wonder about other delicious seafood dishes we might be missing. The ocean is vast and mysterious, filled with millions of creatures, many of which remain undiscovered.

Here are five secret ocean superfoods you’ve probably never tried (excluding marine phytoplankton, of course)!

Abalone

You might recognise abalone shell for its beautiful, multi-coloured iridescence, often used in jewellery and art pieces. Abalone are sea snails found primarily in cold waters off Southern Chile. Their rarity and difficulty to harvest make them pricey.

There are five types of abalone: red (the most common), pink, green, black, and Australian, which is especially prized for its non-fishy flavour. The taste and texture of abalone are similar to scallops. The Marine Conservation Society considers farmed abalone to be “the most sustainable fish to eat.”

Preparing abalone can be tricky, but it's worth it. Abalone may help prevent and treat conditions like arthritis. It is highly regarded in Asian cultures for promoting healthy eyes, alleviating colds, reducing fluid retention, and improving circulation.

Squid Ink

You probably know that squid is a fairly common seafood, commonly referred to as calamari. But did you know that squid ink is making an appearance on dinner plates these days?

Squid ink has been used to colour certain foods in Japan, Italy and Spain for aeons, to give foods a particularly bold, solid black look. In other cultures, squid ink is eaten along with the squid simply because the ink sac isn’t removed before cooking (especially with small squid that are eaten whole). Be warned though, your whole mouth will turn black with the ink if you eat it this way! Much safer for public consumption are foods that have been prepared with squid ink in them, like black pasta.

It turns out that the health benefits of squid ink are even more dramatic than the bold, black colour!

Though she confesses her surprise at the idea of squid ink as food, Dr. Janice Rachael Mae at  healthguidance.org is amazed by the many health benefits it has to offer: “Squid ink is very high in a number of important nutrients. It’s particularly high in antioxidants for instance, which as well all know help to protect the cells and the heart against damage from free radicals. This means that squid ink might be useful in combating the visible signs of ageing, heart disease and various threats to the immune system.”

Squid ink also has strong antibacterial properties and is high in iron, which encourages healthy red blood cell counts and fends off anaemia. The dopamine content in squid ink could make it effective for improving focus and concentration, preserving your memory and enhancing your mood, helping with conditions like depression and anxiety. It is also high in proteins, lipids, taurine and minerals.

Some squid are sustainable choices, while other species are not. Look for MSC certification when buying squid to know that you’re making a responsible choice.

Monkfish Liver

Though people do eat the rest of it, the liver is considered to be the most delicious part of the monkfish. In Japan, monkfish liver is referred to as ankimo. It is available around the world at fish markets and is often served in upscale sushi restaurants, with a red pepper sauce.

Writing for sfgate.com, Troy Sawaisanyakorn notes that monkfish liver is “very rich and creamy, but yet at the same time very light and delicate, feeling silky and velvety to the palate.”

This dish is low in calories but high in protein, and does contain good levels of omega–3 essential fatty acids, which are essential for optimal brain function, heart health and helping to make anti-inflammatories more effective, among other things.

Unfortunately, monkfish is not a sustainable option as it is at risk of over-exploitation and is often caught using bottom trawling methods. If you enjoy any part of monkfish, you should do so only very occasionally.

Jellyfish

You’ve probably seen these beautiful, ghost-like creatures before, but if you’re like me, you never thought of them as food.

After all, jellyfish are only 5% solid matter and 95% water — what made people think this ‘fish’ would make a good meal?

Often, jellyfish are eaten dried, chopped into pieces after being boiled, to remove the salt. Think jerky, ocean style.

In some restaurants, jellyfish are rehydrated and served with fish sauce and vegetables. It doesn’t have much flavour, so it takes on the flavour of whatever you cook it in. It has a crunchy, fresh texture, not slimy as you might expect.

As it turns out, there are some pretty amazing health benefits associated with eating jellyfish. They are loaded with calcium-binding proteins, which your brain needs to prevent cognitive decline and memory loss.

Jellyfish also contain a lot of collagen, which may be useful for treating and preventing arthritis, and is also used as a natural beauty solution, helping to slow or prevent the signs of ageing in your skin. 

SteadyHealth.com highlights additional benefits, such as relieving pain, swelling, ulcers, menstrual cramps, and high blood pressure. Jellyfish populations are growing due to climate change, making them a potentially sustainable food option.

Sea Cucumber

I had never heard of this creature before Finding Nemo, but apparently, it’s quite popular in Chinese cuisine and has some very powerful health benefits.

The flavour of sea cucumber has been compared to that of clams, and the texture can be equally slimy. Some people eat this delicacy raw, while others soak it for extended periods so it isn’t tough, and then fry it with sauces and vegetables.

If you don’t enjoy the taste or texture, you can also purchase dried or powdered forms of sea cucumber, and reap the benefits that way — though honestly fresh is always better when it comes to nutritional value.

Elizabeth Renter at NaturalSociety.com reveals some impressive — though still theoretical — health benefits: “previous research on sea cucumber has demonstrated its ability to kill lung, breast, prostate, skin, colon, pancreatic, and liver cancer cells. These extracts have also proven effective in killing leukaemia and glioblastoma cells. Looks like we can add yet another food to the list of anti-cancer foods.” Really only compounds found in sea cucumbers have been studied in this way, and only on animals, so this isn’t conclusive evidence that eating sea cucumber will help with cancer treatment, but it’s an exciting and promising area of research for sure.

Sea cucumber is also used to treat arthritis and is touted for its pain relieving properties, as it is a very effective anti-inflammatory.

Unfortunately, as of now, sea cucumbers are being exploited because of their perceived value as a delicacy so their numbers are dropping. This makes them a poor choice for environmental reasons. However, it appears that aquaculture researchers are developing ways of farming sea cucumbers that will make them a more sustainable food choice in the near future.

Sustainable seafood

Remember that it’s important to consider the sustainability of your seafood choices, as well as health impacts that are interconnected with environmental factors (like mercury in some tuna, for example).

Are you planning to try any of these unique ocean foods? Maybe you’ve already experienced them and want to share your impressions? Let us know in the comments!

Remember, while marine phytoplankton in Oceans Alive Raw Phytoplankton grows in a photobioreactor to ensure purity and contamination-free production. We love the ocean, but not pollution.

Discover the cleanest, most potent phytoplankton here.

Related Links:

http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/En-Ge/Food-from-the-Sea.html
http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/17692/1/What-Are-the-Health-Benefits-of-Squid-Ink.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/043074_squid_ink_health_food_disease_prevention.html
http://www.sfgate.com/recipes/article/Liver-of-the-monkfish-a-controversial-delicacy-2689335.php
http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/15799/1/Health-Benefits-of-Jellyfish.html
http://naturalsociety.com/sea-cucumber-shrinks-cancer-cells-95-percent/