Compare 5 salts from around the world, smoked salt, flor de sal, feur de sel, hiwa kai, alaea salt, and sel gris
Salt is one of those ubiquitous ingredients that not only makes food taste better, but is a necessary part of the human diet. Chemically speaking, it's a compound formed by sodium and chloride ions arranged in a lattice structure which is why it forms crystals.
While many take it for granted these days, there was a time when salt was more valuable than gold, influencing the growth and migration of civilizations and inciting wars. A comprehensive tome to Salt recounts the epic history of this everyday ingredient, revealing that it's anything but mundane.
Common table salt is typically purified, then enriched with iodine (to prevent Goiter), but this process strips any additional minerals and organic matter that can add flavor and character to the salt. The purification also makes it intensely salty, since there are no impurities to soften the salinity. I don't actually have any regular table salt, preferring to cook with either kosher (Diamond Crystal brand) or Maldon sea salt which are both mild without much flavor of their own. They both have a flaky texture that makes them easy to pinch between your fingers.
Below are 5 other salts I've picked up for various uses. Some are more interesting-looking than tasting, while others pack an incredible dose of flavor that can compliment many dishes.
Name:Iburi Jio.
Region: Oga Penninsula, Japan.
Method: Water collected from deep waters and crystallized in stainless steel. Smoked over cherry wood for flavor.
Color: Light greyish tan.
Moisture: Moderate.
Texture: Small irregular crystals look like damp sand.
Aroma: Strong smoky scent with notes of tar and a bit of red fruit.
Flavor: Perfect salinity, minerally but not too harsh, warm earth flavor with a ton of meaty umami.
Uses: Awesome smoky flavor goes well on meats, fish, salad dressing, or even caramels. This can be used either to cook with or as a finishing salt. Gives non-BBQed meats a BBQed flavor without using "liquid smoke". Delicious on sashimi.
Name: Flor de Sal (Portuguese Fleur de Sel)
Region: Algarve, Portugal
Method: Flor de Sal, or flower of salt, is hand skimmed from the surface of evaporation ponds in the warmer months of the year.
Color: Almost pure white
Moisture: Moderate
Texture: Medium to small irregular crystals
Aroma: Neutral
Flavor: Strong salinity, minerally, briny, full of umami
Uses: This is one of my favorite salts. Used as a finishing salt, it adds intense bursts of saltiness with loads of umami. Used for cooking, it adds some great flavor to all dishes.
Name: Hiwa Kai
Region: Molokai, Hawaii
Method: Harvested from Pacific Ocean waters, then solar-evaporated with black lava rocks. To finish, the crystals are dusted with activated charcoal.
Color: Charcoal black
Moisture: Dry
Texture: Medium uniform crystals
Aroma: Neutral (not surprising since charcoal filters are used to rid air and water of odors)
Flavor: Well-balanced, mild, very neutral flavor. This one is more for looks and purported health benefits.
Uses: Awesome smoky flavor goes well on meats, fish, salad dressing, or even caramels. This can be used either to cook with or as a finishing salt.
Uses: Since the charm is all in the color, I would use this exclusively as a finishing salt. It doesn't really add any flavor, though, so aside from the novelty and purported health benefits, I don't really see any reason to use it.
Name: Alaea salt
Region: Hawaii
Method: Locally harvested sea salt combined with Alaea, a volcanic clay that's full of iron oxide (rust) which gives the salt its unique color.
Color: Deep reddish pink
Moisture: Dry
Texture: Medium uniform crystals
Aroma: Like mineral water
Flavor: Low salinity, mellow, earthy flavor. Despite the medium sized crystals, the high mineral content keeps it from being too salty even if sprinkled directly on food.
Uses: I'm actually pleasantly surprised by this salt. Clay and salt sound so unappealing, but it's so mellow, and the color is very cool. This is the salt you're supposed to use in dishes like Kalua Pork and Tuna Poke.
Name: Sel Gris (grey salt)
Region: Brittany, France.
Method: Solar-evaporated in clay pools, then hand collected using wooden rakes.
Color: Greyish green color.
Moisture: Wet.
Texture: Large to small irregular crystals.
Aroma: Minerally, smells a bit like uncooked rice.
Flavor: High salinity, strong mineral flavor.
Uses: This one's a bit on the harsh side. Honestly I'm not a big fan. I'm not really sure what I'd use it for. Might be good to use when pickling vegetables.
What's your favorite kind of salt?
Marc Matsumoto says
Heather, yea, there is that problem, but I figure I get enough iodine in the processed and restaurant foods that I eat that it shouldn't be a problem. I love Maldon salt too!
Tartelette, awesome! Thanks for the generous offer:-)
Laura, I think that's who got me into Maldon as well. It's actually pretty similar to Kosher salt, but I use Kosher for general purpose cooking because it's a lot cheaper.
We Are Never Full, people are always up in arms about something. I think the whole saturated fat thing is such a circus. Convinced that animal fats are so evil, people switched to hydrogenated vegetable oils as a substitute, but as it turns out those (transfats) are worse than the natural substance they were supposed to replace. And I won't even go into the whole Olestra debacle. Did you know there was a time when asbestos was touted as a miracle product that was good for you because it's naturally occurring?
Thanks Diva, yep there was a whole network of salt roads throughout Europe and Asia that were used to carry salt to regions that lacked it.
James, vanilla salt sounds awesome! I'm going to have to look that up.
Eirikur, that's good to know. It tasted stronger than other salts, so perhaps it helps kill bacteria?
Thanks Sharon, Alaea would be good on a lot of things, it's my new favourite up there with Fleur De Sel and the Japanese salt.
Hillary, it's amazing how many different kinds there are. I may have to write a follow up post to this one with 5 other kinds of salt.
William, that sounds amazing. I'd like to try that some day.
Thanks Syrie, try looking online if you can't find it locally.
Kiriel, next time I'm down there I'll have to pick up some of this Murray River salt, you've piqued my interest.
Kevin, if you can find it, give some smoked salt a try.
Darlene, I agree I love that it's mild enough to use without running it through a grinder despite the relatively large crystals.
cakewardrobe says
Tres interesting post! I like to take kosher salt and pinch it in between my fingers like I like popping bubble wrap! 🙂
Marc Matsumoto says
cakewardrobe, if you enjoy crushing kosher salt between your fingers you should give Maldon sea salt a go. It's even more satisfying:-)
katie says
I love alae'a - I first tried it a few years ago when a friend who grew up in Hawaii put it out with dinner and I fell in love. I recently put it in my salt grinder and have been using it for almost everything, except salting pasta water, for which I still use Kosher salt. I don't think I've ever purchased regular table salt. I find it overly salty and sharp.
cakewardrobe says
Tres interesting post! I like to take kosher salt and pinch it in between my fingers like I like popping bubble wrap! 🙂
Marc Matsumoto says
cakewardrobe, if you enjoy crushing kosher salt between your fingers you should give Maldon sea salt a go. It's even more satisfying:-)
katie says
I love alae'a - I first tried it a few years ago when a friend who grew up in Hawaii put it out with dinner and I fell in love. I recently put it in my salt grinder and have been using it for almost everything, except salting pasta water, for which I still use Kosher salt. I don't think I've ever purchased regular table salt. I find it overly salty and sharp.
Ellie says
Salish Salt is an AMAZING smoked salt that I've recently come in contact with. It's great on burgers and in soups. I've even used it in a stir-fry! Thanks for the education- I'm always up for new culinary adventures!
Ellie says
Salish Salt is an AMAZING smoked salt that I've recently come in contact with. It's great on burgers and in soups. I've even used it in a stir-fry! Thanks for the education- I'm always up for new culinary adventures!
Happykacule says
I like Himalayan Rock Salt:-)
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ionic minerals says
I also like Himalayan Rock salt. Thank you for being here.
lurkerhere says
I've been lurking for a few days and I love this blog! It's given me so many ideas for dinner 🙂
I love Korean Jookyum (bamboo salt), and Songyum (pine salt) - two traditional baked salts. Bamboo salt is sea salt that is fired inside a bamboo plant at a very high temperature, it looks very powdery (kind of like icing sugar), is a mix of grey/white, and is actually quite salty. Good as a cooking salt, and also used for its health benefits & antiseptic/anti-inflammatory properties (great for those with gingivitis & frequent canker sores). Pine salt is made similarly, except using pine needles. It's got a slight yellow tinge to it and was used more for medicinal purposes (and as a toothpaste in the days before the modern stuff was available. It's a bit milder than the bamboo salt. You can use both salts as finishing/cooking salts and the flavor has a depth that is not present in plain old salt!
lurkerhere says
I've been lurking for a few days and I love this blog! It's given me so many ideas for dinner 🙂
I love Korean Jookyum (bamboo salt), and Songyum (pine salt) - two traditional baked salts. Bamboo salt is sea salt that is fired inside a bamboo plant at a very high temperature, it looks very powdery (kind of like icing sugar), is a mix of grey/white, and is actually quite salty. Good as a cooking salt, and also used for its health benefits & antiseptic/anti-inflammatory properties (great for those with gingivitis & frequent canker sores). Pine salt is made similarly, except using pine needles. It's got a slight yellow tinge to it and was used more for medicinal purposes (and as a toothpaste in the days before the modern stuff was available. It's a bit milder than the bamboo salt. You can use both salts as finishing/cooking salts and the flavor has a depth that is not present in plain old salt!
Marc Matsumoto says
They sound awesome. Do they take on the flavor of the tree? Especially curious about pine salt! I'll have to look for it the next time I go to the Korean market.
lurkerhere says
Bamboo salt doesn't really have a bamboo-y flavor, or at least I'm not able to detect it. Pine salt tastes like pine needles though - although it's very faint. Pine salt also has a cool yellowish (almost neon green) sort of pastel chartreuse color, it's very fun!
daforcecoiledwithin says
Greetings All,
I've been consuming Bamboo Salt for a while now and find it not as salty. It has a very powdery texture as lurkerhere stated. I don't find it salty, at first yeah the salty taste is mildly there but very, very quickly it dissipates. My wife applies a bit on her joints of her fingers or feet for swelling and the swelling and pain dissipate(she has RA). We've partnered with a producer and we're still consuming it with no health issues. I drink it with bottled water (make sure not reverse osmosis) and for me it's great. So far it's going great!
Jack Blue says
I really like Real Salt (brand) from Utah. Such a unique flavor, hard to describe. The most important part of a natural salt is it's non toxic properties and it's minerals. Also pink Himalayan salt is great!!