What is black moss good for?

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What is Fat Choy/ Black Moss?
Are there any health benefits?
How do I select Fat Choy?
How do I consume Fat Choy?
Production[edit]
Chinese culture[edit]
Vietnamese culture[edit]
Health effects[edit]
Notes and references[edit]
Bibliography[edit]
External links[edit]
Is Black Moss Edible?
What is black moss called?
What does black moss mean?
Is black moss seaweed?

English name: Nostoc Flagelliforme
English Common name: Fat Choy, Black Moss, Hair Moss, Hair Weed.
Chinese Name: 髮菜 (Mandarin: fǎcài / Cantonese: faat3 coi3)

What is Fat Choy/ Black Moss?

Fat Choy/ Black Moss is a terrestrial algae and cyanobacteria. Its Chinese name derives from its black color and slender silkiness and its resemblance to hair. Since Fat Choy sounds phonetically the same as 發財 (Fā cái) meaning “Get Rich”, it has become a center dish during Chinese New Year.
Fat Choy is not a vegetable but a blue-green algae that grows in the soil.
With environmental impact, we can consume Fat Choy occasionally in small quantities, it can make a nice “prosperous” treat.
Fat Choy itself does not have any taste like sea cucumbers, but it can absorb other dishes fragrant.

Are there any health benefits?

Fat Choy contains much protein and carbohydrates as well as high iron content which aid the production of red blood cell.
It is low in fat and cholesterol
It is cooling in nature, thus expelling heat and phlegm, relief constipation and lower high blood pressure.

How do I select Fat Choy?

Fat Choy should be black, long, and free of impurities. Quality Fat Choy should have elasticity and fragrant.
Beware of imitated Fat Choy that have similar appearance but are made from corn silk.

How do I consume Fat Choy?

Wash Fat Choy/black moss thoroughly to remove the grit and sand. Soak in water for 20 minutes. Drain and squeeze out the water. Add 1 tbsp oil and mix well. Rinse the Fat Choy until it is completely clean.
Recommended Recipe: Braised dried oysters with Black Moss/ Fat Choy and Chinese Mushroom is a New Year favorite for Chinese.

Hair seaweed, also known as black flossy moss, black moss or black hair, these fine threads of black dried vegetable resemble hair and is tasteless. Called "Fat Choy" in Cantonese, although of different Chinese character but sounds very much like "Good Fortune" and thus it is a must for Chinese homes to serve a dish that employs "Fat Choy" during Chinese New Year.

Black moss grows in the desert. It contains much protein, carbohydrates, some phosphorus, iron and potassium. It is cold in nature and can clear Heat and expel the phlegm. It is recommended for hypertensions and chronic bronchitis patients. The iron content of black moss aids blood cells production and therefore women suffering from mild anemia after giving birth use black moss in cooking or make soup with it. The Chinese believes that black moss darkens hair. Adolescent young women should especially eat more for denser and shinier hair.

Slippery after being cooked, it is a traditional ingredient used in some vegetarian Buddhist dishes, soups and as garnish. Stewed dried oysters with black moss is a New Year favorite for the Chinese. Braised pork with black moss and chestnuts tastes great. Stewed turtle with black moss is a delicious and nutritious food.

Soak the hair seaweed briefly in warm water and rinse before use. Hair seaweed can be found in Asian supermarkets and Chinese markets.

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Fat choy

Nostoc flagelliforme under a microscope
Scientific classification
Domain:	Bacteria
Phylum:	Cyanobacteria
Class:	Cyanophyceae
Order:	Nostocales
Family:	Nostocaceae
Genus:	Nostoc
Species:	N. flagelliforme
Binomial name
Nostoc flagelliforme Harv. ex Molinari, Calvo-Pérez & Guiry, 2016[1]
Synonyms[1]
Nematonostoc flagelliforme (Bornet & Flahault) Nylander ex Elenkin 1934 Nostoc commune var. flagelliforme Bornet & Flahault, 1886

Fat choy

Traditional Chinese

髮菜

Simplified Chinese

发菜

Literal meaning

"hair vegetable"

Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	fàcài
IPA	[fâ.tsʰâɪ]
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization	faat choi
Jyutping	faat3 coi3

Alternative Chinese name

Traditional Chinese

頭毛菜

Transcriptions
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ	thâu-mn̂g-chhài

Fat choy (simplified Chinese: 发菜; traditional Chinese: 髮菜; pinyin: fàcài; Jyutping: faat³ coi³; Nostoc flagelliforme) is a terrestrial cyanobacterium (a type of photosynthetic bacteria) that is used as a vegetable in Chinese cuisine. When dried, the product has the appearance of black hair. For that reason, its name in Chinese means "hair vegetable". When soaked, fat choy has a soft texture which is like very fine vermicelli.

Production[edit]

Fat choy grows on the ground in the Gobi Desert and the Qinghai Plateau. Over-harvesting on the Mongolian steppes has furthered erosion and desertification in those areas. The Chinese government has limited its harvesting, which has caused its price to increase. This may be one reason why some commercially available fat choy has been found to be adulterated with strands of a non-cellular starchy material, with other additives and dyes.[2][3] Real fat choy is dark green in color, while the counterfeit fat choy appears black.[2]

Chinese culture[edit]

Its name in Cantonese sound the same as a Cantonese phrase meaning "struck it rich" (though the second syllable, coi, has a different tone) -- this is found, for example, in the Cantonese saying, "Gung1 hei2 faat3 coi4" (恭喜發財, meaning "wishing you prosperity"), often proclaimed during Chinese New Year. Therefore, it is a popular ingredient for the Chinese New Year, like in the reunion dinner. It is enjoyed as an alternative to cellophane noodles.[citation needed] It is mostly used in Cantonese cuisine and Buddhist cuisine. It is sometimes used as a hot pot ingredient.

Vietnamese culture[edit]

Fat choy is also used in Vietnamese cuisine. It is called tóc tiên or tóc thiêng (literally "angel's hair") in Vietnamese.

Health effects[edit]

N. flagelliforme has no nutritional value, and also contains beta-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA), a toxic amino acid that could affect the normal functions of nerve cells and is linked to degenerative diseases such as ALS, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and dementia.[4] May have positive effects in macrophages and splenocytes white blood cells.[5]

No significant difference between laboratory rats fed N. flagelliforme and the control group was found in a study by Takenaka and coworkers.[6]

Notes and references[edit]

^ a b Calvo-Pérez, Juan Diego; Molinari-Novoa, Eduardo A.; Guiry, Michael D. (23 March 2016). "Validation of Nostoc flagelliforme (Nostocaceae, Cyanobacteria)" (PDF). Notulae Algarum (2): 1–2. ISSN 2009-8987. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
^ a b "The standard.com.hk". Archived from the original on November 22, 2007. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
^ "Waynesword". Archived from the original on 2004-10-10. Retrieved 2004-11-07.
^ The standard.com.hk. Mimi Lau, January 30, 2007, Ban sought on Lunar delicacy Archived November 22, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
^ Ku, Lee (2013). "Edible blue-green algae reduce the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines by inhibiting NF-κB pathway in macrophages and splenocytes". Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - General Subjects. 1830 (4): 2981–2988. doi:10.1016/j.bbagen.2013.01.018. PMC 3594481. PMID 23357040.
^ Takenaka 1998.

Bibliography[edit]

But, Paul Pui-Hay; Cheng, Ling; Chan, Pui Kwan; Lau, David Tai-Wai; But, Joyce Wing-Hin (2002). "Nostoc flagelliforme and faked items retailed in Hong Kong". Journal of Applied Phycology. 14 (2): 143–145. doi:10.1023/a:1019518329032. ISSN 0921-8971. S2CID 6195505.
Takenaka, H.; Yamaguchi, Y.; Sakaki, S.; Watarai, K.; Tanaka, N.; Hori, M.; Seki, H.; Tsuchida, M.; Yamada, A.; Nishimori, T.; Morinaga, T. (1 December 1998). "Safety evaluation of Nostoc flagelliforme (nostocales, Cyanophyceae) as a potential food". Food and Chemical Toxicology (United Kingdom). 36 (12): 1073–1077. doi:10.1016/S0278-6915(98)00089-1. ISSN 0278-6915. PMID 9862649. Retrieved 22 October 2018.

External links[edit]

"Cyanobacteria Photos". waynesword.palomar.edu. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
"food for thought". sg.bcmagazine.net. 1 February 2004. Archived from the original on 1 February 2004. Retrieved 22 October 2018.

Is Black Moss Edible?

A traditional ingredient is fat choy (black moss in English), a type of edible, land-dwelling algae related to spirulina that resembles long strands of black hair.

What is black moss called?

Spanish moss, also called Black Moss, Long Moss, orVegetable Horsehair, (Tillandsia usneoides), epiphyte (a nonparasitic plant that is supported by another plant and has aerial roots exposed to the humid atmosphere) of the pineapple family (Bromeliaceae).

What does black moss mean?

black moss (usually uncountable, plural black mosses) Any of numerous species of dark-coloured mosses (Bryophyta), possibly species of the genera Grimmia, Andreaea, Syntrichia, Cinclidotus.

Is black moss seaweed?

What is black moss seaweed? Black moss, affectionately called 'fat choy' (髮菜) in Cantonese, is a type of bacteria that can be found growing in the Qinghai Plateau and Northern China's Gobi Desert. Its name is literally translated to 'hair vegetable' and has an astounding resemblance to black hair when dehydrated.