Garlic Laced Nori

[redfishbluefish]

Is anyone aware of a recipe for making garlic laced nori? That is, if you buy Asian market nori, is there a way of infusing it with garlic? And I would prefer a homemade recipe over telling me to squirt Kent Garlic Xtreme (Or some other brand), on the Nori.

 

[Hawkeye]

So the nerdy dude (alton brown?) on food channel in me is thinking you could take fresh garlic and dice it up in a food processor, then wrap the mess into nori (like your own mini-sushi roll) and use a mesh clip to hold it all together.

I dunno if that would work since the bits might just float away from the mesh as it is eaten by fish. but was thinking the fish would ingest the bits of garlic while attacking the nori.

 

[radiata]

Ia anyone aware of any studies, preferably scientific, that demonstrate a positive link between garlic and fish health? I attended a MACNA lecture a few years back where the speaker claimed there was no link.

 

[Hawkeye]

Ia anyone aware of any studies, preferably scientific, that demonstrate a positive link between garlic and fish health? I attended a MACNA lecture a few years back where the speaker claimed there was no link.

i concur - it may simply be as simple as providing an appetite enhancer...so eating more = better healthier fish.

 

[magic]

Paul

How about using a garlic press? When you press it you get very small pieces of garlic and juice. The nori should absorb the juice.

Bob

 

[tbone212371]

I personally would take a few cloves and food process them into mush and smear it onto a sheet of nori and let the oils just get absorbed into the nori.. Prior to feeding the nori i would scape off the excess garlic...
The excess garlic is just gonna foul the water...
Good luck let us know how you do!

 

[redfishbluefish]

I found this recipe over on Aquariacentral:

I use 100% organic garlic powder. I put 1/2 cup in one cup of RO water and microwave 1 minute to boiling in a glass. I let it sit until it cools. I pour the mixture into a coffee filter and squeeze the liquid out into a jar with a good lid. Refrigerate until needed.


The one thing missing is that he doesn’t say how he “uses” it. I think I’ll give it a try and either soak or paint this wort onto the nori and let it dry.

 

[tbone212371]

Hmmm im gonna have to try that recipe...
Thanks for posting it!

 

[Nickjr000]

Garlic powder, better make sure they dont include anything else in it. I think it would be safer to use a garlic press like bob said. Or put a bunch of garlic in a food processor or blender with a few oz of water and strain it through a filter and use that juice. Brush it on the nori and let it dry.

I use garlic a few times a week. Ill thaw some froen food and add a few drops. Stir and let it sit about 20 mins before feeding. Started usin it years ago when my naso and powder blue had a few small spots on them. They were always there and would be worse some days than others but were never really bad. Started usin the garlic and the naso and powder hardly ever had anything on them again, maybe once in a blue moon.

I know all the stuff about no health benefits and only an appetite enhancer, but my naso and powder always ate like pigs before i ever used garlic. And I never fed more when i used the garlic so the amount of food they ate never changed.


I make some of my own garliced food. Finely chop fresh shrimp, fish of your choice, squid, and nori. Put it all in a cup , add garlic about 3 drops per teaspoon of food , and add very little water, mix good so its like a paste. Fill up a ziploc bag and lay it flat in the freezer. Then just break off a piece when you want to feed this. I only use it 2-3 x a week like a treat. fish seem to like it

 

[radiata]

Seems to me there's a health food supplement that consists of some sort of liquid garlic in capsules. Wonder if that would work. Might be easier to deal with than powder.

 

[cmor1701d]

Garlic is an antioxidant (health buzzword of the last 5 years). There is still only anecdotal evidence that it helps in marine aquariums. Human studies show some small effects. However, it's quite hard to find garlic in the ocean, so it's not readily available to fish in their diet.

My fish attack Nori when I put it in the tank. No need to add it for an attractant. Maybe to other foods (several methods already mentioned).

When I made my own fish food (blender mush) I used either the commercial preparations, or minced in some cloves.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I will agree that a lot of the info on garlic is anecdotal, but so was chicken soup for the common cold until they finally did studies to prove some efficacy. The only thing that I have found that is backed with research is the antibacterial effect of garlic and the appetite enhancing effect. Either way, I’ll continue to use it unless they publish studies that say it hurts the fish.

 

[JRWOHLER]

I will agree that a lot of the info on garlic is anecdotal, but so was chicken soup for the common cold until they finally did studies to prove some efficacy. The only thing that I have found that is backed with research is the antibacterial effect of garlic and the appetite enhancing effect. Either way, I’ll continue to use it unless they publish studies that say it hurts the fish.

That is how I look at it too. I am lazy and just buy my nori with garlic.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Rod and I went on a road trip today and made a few stops. One of the places was the Hong Kong Supermarket on Route 18 in East Brunswick. We were there to buy algae. First off, not speaking the language made the search a little tougher. We first ended up in the “regular” algae isle and just couldn’t find the right stuff. It all looked like it was simply cut and dried kelp right from the sea. Just didn’t look like the stuff from the LFS. (I actually wondered if this stuff would be OK to feed to the fish??? Does anyone know?)


We eventually made it over to the “Japanese” isle, and that is where we found the sushi algae…the right stuff. The problem is that all the different algae they had was roasted, except for one. So that made the choice pretty easy….Seoul Dried Seaweed it will be. (Anyone catch the fact that we are in the Japanese isle, yet we are buying a product from Korea.) Just for your information, you don’t want to use roasted algae, because the roasting process destroys most of the nutrient value. So for $3.99 I got 2.32 oz…without counting, about 20 – 25 sheets.

I put a quarter sheet into the tank when I got home and the three tangs, butterfly and blenny attacked this stuff.

So now to add the garlic. I made the recipe above….1/2 cup powdered garlic to 1 cup RO water; microwave to a boil. What I got was garlic “Cream of Wheat.” The hot water expanded the garlic into a paste. Here’s what it looks like:

I cracked out the old chemistry set and pulled out my Erlenmeyer, (flask that is), and started to filter the hot wort. I waited for it to cool slightly, but started the filtering process while it was still hot. This is going to take some time. The garlic tea is a light brown color. Here’s a picture of that.

If this doesn’t produce enough liquor, I’ll either add about ½ cup water to the garlic and boil again or boil about ½ hot water and pour it over the garlic in the funnel.

The plan is to paint it on the algae and then let it dry.

I think if I do this again, I might crack open 2 – 4 fish oil capsules and add them to the RO water before boiling. The reason is to extract any oil soluble components and also soften the algae slightly. The one thing I did notice is that this algae appears to be a bit more brittle.

 

[redfishbluefish]

UPDATE:  As the Cream of Garlic cooled, it turned into cement.  So I added about ½ cup of RO and 4 capsules, 300 mg each of fish oil (note, pure fish oil without lemon).  Brought this back to a boil and continued filtering.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Well, back to the drawing board. Went to paint the algae and it curled up. Here’s a shot of the algae ready for painting, and the second, after the algae was painted. They devour the plain algae, so I guess I just stick with that.

 

[NikkiT]

I know you said you'd just stick with the plain algae, but I was wondering if you have thought about trying to mash the garlic with a morter & pestel and then spread a very thin layer on the nori? Or try pressing the garlic, and separating the pressed garlic from the oil? Just a thought.

 

[magic]

I know you said you'd just stick with the plain algae, but I was wondering if you have thought about trying to mash the garlic with a morter & pestel and then spread a very thin layer on the nori? Or try pressing the garlic, and separating the pressed garlic from the oil? Just a thought.

Stealing my garlic press idea Huh!

Bob

Paul

How about using a garlic press? When you press it you get very small pieces of garlic and juice. The nori should absorb the juice.

Bob

;D

Bob

 

[NikkiT]

lol totally. Sorry Bob, clearly not paying attention . . . the mortar & pestal was a new one though, right?

 

[magic]

lol totally. Sorry Bob, clearly not paying attention . . . the mortar & pestal was a new one though, right?

I'll let you have that one. Great minds do think alike. ;D

Bob