Kombu

Kombu is the Japanese name for edible kelp species in the genera Saccharina and Laminaria, large brown algae native to the cold coastal waters of the northern Pacific, most notably around Japan, Korea and China, and now widely cultivated on ropes in coastal aquaculture. Its broad, leathery blades are dried and used as a foundational ingredient in East Asian cooking, most famously simmered to make dashi, the savory stock at the base of much Japanese cuisine, and its high concentration of glutamic acid is one of the sources historically used to identify umami as a distinct taste.