A manobo boy with a nickname "Lalang", a nickname for a girl!
A manobo boy with a nickname "Lalang", a nickname for a girl!
The pond cultivation of C. lentillifera has been very successful on Mactan Island, Cebu, in the central Philippines, with markets in Cebu and Manila. About 400 ha of ponds are under cultivation, producing 12-15 tonnes of fresh seaweed per hectare per year. C. lentillifera is also eaten in Okinawa, where it is known as umi-budō (海ぶどう?), meaning "sea grapes".
C. lentillifera is usually eaten raw with vinegar, as a snack or in a salad. In the Philippines, after being washed in clean water, it is usually eaten raw as a salad, mixed with chopped raw onions and fresh tomatoes, and dressed with a blend of fish sauce or fish paste (locally called bagoong) and vinegar. It is known to be rich in iodine.