Okahijiki (Salsola komarovii), whose Japanese name means "land hijiki" for its resemblance to the hijiki seaweed of the shore, is a crisp, saline stem vegetable made up of slender, fleshy, needle-like green shoots. Also sold in English as "land seaweed" or saltwort, it is a salt-tolerant halophyte gathered young, when the succulent stems snap cleanly and taste of clean mineral brine. It is almost always eaten lightly blanched — a brief plunge into boiling water that sets the colour a vivid green and keeps the signature crunch — then chilled and dressed simply with soy sauce, dashi, sesame or rice vinegar as an ohitashi or sunomono side. Prized in Japanese cooking for texture as much as flavour, okahijiki gives a fresh, juicy, faintly salty snap that reads like a green vegetable answering to the sea.