As a food Gracilaria are very versatile but are traditionally used three ways. Washed and eaten as a salad, raw or boiled, as a thickener or sun-bleached, dried and used later on as a vegetable-based gelatin. Nutritionally,  it is high in manganese and has nitrogen, potassium, zinc and vitamins A and B.

In Vietnam the species is collected whole year, washed in fresh water, then kneaded into slices and dried in the sun. It is also boiled and eaten with fish, or boil, the water allowed to cool then it  is sliced into cubes and sweetened with a sprinkle of sugar. It can also be washed and then pressed by hand into a gelatin-like mass that is eaten as  a kind of pickle/relish or as “dabbo dabbo” which is a sauce of lemon juice and ginger.