Sea Lettuce Rice Chips

This is our very first Sea Lettuce recipe and it is such a banger! We get asked several times each week whether the seaweed we grow can produce that “seaweed snack” effect, especially by younger folks and their parents. It’s amazing to see how widely embraced and mainstream nori snacks have become in the US, over just the past couple of years. Of all the recipes we enjoy, this one is the most similar to those crave-worthy little rectangular sheets you grab in the supermarkets. The best part is that you can count the ingredients on one hand and it all comes together in just minutes.

We will be writing this recipe in two ways: the first, with a conventional shallow fry method using neutral high heat oil, and the second with using just an air fryer. This recipe was inspired by the intrepid TikTokers who have shared their methods, and we adapted it to utilize our amazingly flavorful fresh Sea Lettuce, in place of Nori. While these chips are a tasty snack in and of themselves, we also love to pair them with sashimi grade fish (poke nachos, anyone?), or a wasabi aioli.

Sea Lettuce Rice Chips

  • Sea Lettuce

  • Rice Paper

  • Neutral Oil, for frying

  • Seasoning of choice

  1. Place fresh Sea Lettuce leaves on rice paper sheets by carefully spreading out fresh leaves and pressing down onto dry rice sheets. Lettuce pieces can be cut or ripped and placed on bare patches of rice paper, like a jigsaw puzzle, until each rice sheet is covered with sea lettuce on one side.

  2. Trim excess sea lettuce from the outer perimeter of the rice paper sheets (it doesn’t need to be exact, or neat looking).

  3. Place sheets on a parchment lined baking tray or a cooling rack and allow to dry for one hour, or until sea lettuce is no longer wet (very slightly damp is ideal). Alternatively, blow dry on low until slightly tacky to the touch.

  4. Heat oil (about 1/4 inch will do) in a shallow pan on medium high heat, until temperature reaches 375 degrees F.

  5. While oil is heating, cut rice paper seaweed sheets into squares, strips, or triangles as preferred. When oil is hot, gently place sheets in the pan one to three at a time with tongs, being careful they don’t collide and fuse, and allow to cook for a few seconds before removing and placing on a paper towel lined plate.

  6. When all pieces are fried, season with preferred spice blend (we love furikake or gochugaru chili flakes) and enjoy!