Buttered kelp popcorn

SERVES 4 / COOKING 5 MINUTES

Having grown up in a family that sprinkles kelp granules liberally over everything, adding it to spiced, buttered popcorn seems only natural. Shichimi togarashi is a Japanese sevenspice mix (hot red pepper, orange peel, black and yellow sesame seeds, pepper, seaweed and ginger) and can be found at most Asian grocers. If you can’t find it, you could make a batch of seaweed gomasio (see recipe p68), leaving out the salt and adding a few dried chilli flakes for similar effect. I’ve shared my foolproof method for popping corn, but by all means follow your own method or use an air popper if you have one.

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ cup (90g) popcorn kernels

50g butter

3 teaspoons kelp granules

½ teaspoon shichimi togarashi ½ teaspoon fine sea salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-based pan over a mediumhigh heat. Add a few popcorn kernels to the pan, cover and wait. When they start to pop, add the rest of the kernels, give it a good shake to evenly coat the kernels in oil, cover and remove from the heat. Wait for 30 seconds. Give it all another good shake and then return to the heat, with the lid ever-so-slightly ajar to let steam out. You should start to hear popping after 30-45 seconds. Every now and then give it all a good shake around with the lid on, still allowing a little gap for the steam to escape. Once you hear the popping subside (approx 1-1½ minutes), remove from the heat and transfer to a large bowl.

Melt the butter in a small pan, pour over the popcorn, then sprinkle with kelp granules, shichimi togarashi, salt and pepper. Give it all a good mix up then devour.