Gim (김), also called laver in English, has been one of my favorite foods since I moved to Korea. Before I arrived here, I had no real sense of how many different kinds of seaweed existed or how differently each one was used. Most Western markets carry one vaguely seaweed-shaped product for sushi. Come to Korea and there are aisles of different varieties, each with specific uses and preparation methods. Gim in particular is everywhere, it’s on every restaurant table as a side dish (banchan), it’s used to wrap rice balls, it’s a topping for soups instead of extra salt, and in my house it occasionally just replaces potato chips.…