Furikake

[Akiko]

We seem to keep coming back to Furikake.. and its been said that Furikake deserves its own thread, so here it is.

Furikake is "seasoning" that is created to sprinkle on rice.. to make a kind of "flavoured" rice.

It comes in different forms... salmon sprinkles with nori and sesame, dried fish egg (tobiko) and nori, dried egg and nori, wasabi flavoured, shiso flavoured, what are those fish shaving things called? flavoured.. and many others.

I love this on my rice... I also love the plain nori and sesame mix with butter on my rice.

But just as good as a snack is microwave very buttery popcorn with furikake on it... you can also mix in some rice crackers.

What are your favorite furikake flavors? What do you put it on?

Akiko

[torakris]

I actually don't care for furikake and never use it myself but my children and husband love it.

I probably have a bout 6 or 7 kinds in the house right now because I use them to make different rice balls (onigiri) for my husband's breakfast.

A year or so ago I had found this wonderful furikake called yaki-miso (grilled miso) and it was flavored with shiso as well, I would eat this for lunch almost every day, but I can't find it anymore.

I am amazed at the interesting uses people have for furikake as I read through e-gullet.

In Japan there are probably as many furikake types as there are cereal types in the US, what are the most common ones that people can find outside of Japan?

[Suzanne F]

OH NO!! Not another condiment to jam into my cupboard! That stuff sounds great -- gotta get me some, especially since I can be happy with a big bowl of rice.

[coastcat]

Mmmmm, furikake. I like any version with shaved bonito, although anything with fish roe is also a delight.

Here's my favorite breakfast during childhood: Mix a raw egg into hot rice, add a splash of soy sauce and a sprinkle of Aji-No-Moto (a.k.a. MSG), and shake furikake on top until my mother scolded me to stop.

shouldn't there be a drool smilie?

[Jason Perlow]

Furikake is great stuff. I shake it on plain sushi (Nishiki) rice.

[torakris]

Just pulled out my furikake stockpile, we have:

gomashio

kongari shoyuaji okaka (grilled soy flavored kastuo or bonito flakes)

karashi mentai (hot mustard and spicy cod roe)

ajidouraku (this is one of the popular mixes with sesame, katsuo flakes, eggs and seaweed)

shiso wakame (shiso, wakame and umeboshi)

tarako (cod roe)

sake wakame ( salmon flakes and wakame)

noritamago (my kid's favorite-- egg and seaweed)

Anyone else out there learn the "proper" way to shake the furikake onto your rice?

My husband taught this to my children, you hold the furikake packet (or jar) in one hand over the rice and gently tap the wrist with your other hand.

[Jinmyo]

Anyone else out there learn the "proper" way to shake the furikake onto your rice?

My husband taught this to my children, you hold the furikake packet (or jar) in one hand over the rice and gently tap the wrist  with your other hand.

That's so.

[Akiko]

That's hysterical (about the proper way to sprinkle furikake)... have you ever seen Tampopo? It remiinds me of the scene where they are having dining etiquette class (the table of women dressed oh so properly eating spaghetti?). Funny.

My mother never taught us anything like that... and I am happy if I've managed to keep the jar away from my niece, whose ultimate goal at a meal will be to pour the entire jar out on her dish and eat just that.

[Jinmyo]

The whole ramen ritual that opens Tampopo is even funnier.

I love that movie and was just talking to someone yesterday about watching it again.

[torakris]

The whole ramen ritual that opens Tampopo is even funnier.

I love that movie and was just talking to someone yesterday about watching it again.

I haven't seen Tampopo in years, hilarious movie.

Definitely time to see it again!

[torakris]

Has anyone ever used furikake as an ingredient in a marinade?

I can't find it now but I ran across 2 recipes a couple days ago (in either a Thai or Chinese cookbook) that called for furikake as a marinade ingredient.

[smallworld]

I used to be totally addicted to furikake, until I read the ingredient label. There's so much junk in there! Ugh.

We still keep about one pack (either tarako or ajidouraku) and use it very occasionally, but it's not something I want to eat regularly. Which is good, since I'm trying to cut down on the amount of rice I eat, and with furikake I can easily eat two or three bowls!

[SobaAddict70]

You know, I'm gonna have to get this into my pantry now.

Bad Kristin!!! Behold, my new addiction. This, from someone who used to snack on cold rice, sprinkled with a little soy and sesame oil when he was a kid.

Soba

[Akiko]

I do use furikake as a marinade... but for sashimi, its a common ingredient in Poke (hawaiian sashimi salad kind of thing).

Yummy a little maguro or salmon chopped into bite size pieces, some seaweed salad, a little soy sauce, sesame oil, red chilis (if you like spicy), green onions, and some furikake. Very good with rice.

[tissue]

I like furikake on chilled tofu.

Refreshing...

[margaret]

I used to be totally addicted to furikake, until I read the ingredient label. There's so much junk in there! Ugh.

Is there really so much bad stuff in furikake? Maybe it depends on the brand, but the two I have at home right now (noritama and some random yasai) don't have much outside of the main ingredients.

noritama- sesame seed, yolk, sugar, salt, shaved bonito, seaweed

yasai - sesame seed, carrot, spinach, pumpkin, celery, japanese mustard plant, sugar, salt, seaweed

kind of surprised not to find the ubiquitous aji no moto.

I eat a lot of this stuff, and this talk about junk in there concerns me.

Furikake on tofu - interesting idea. I'd imagine the contrast between smooth and crunchy, mild and salty, to be interesting. Do you add soy sauce, scallions, etc?

[torakris]

I just pulled out my noritama pack and read the label, wow!

27 ingredients (and that is counting all of the various fish and meat extracts as one!)

I don't even know what some of those Japnese ingredients are, of course I probably wouldn't be familiar with the English equivalent either.

Oh I love poke! need to make it again soon!

I always avoided putting the furikake on it because I don't really care for it.

[tissue]

I add soy sauce depending on what type of furikake I'm using. I always add a little bit of scallions for flavor, or a little grated young ginger.

You are right. I like the contrast in texture which is why I love the sesame seeds play against the softness of the tofu.

[smallworld]

Margaret,

My furikake doesn't list MSG, but it does list extract of kelp, which is natually high in MSG. It lists lots of other stuff like flavourings, colourings, fragrance, preservatives, oil, sweetners, eggshell, destrin, salt, flour, and many more. Like Torakris, I can't understand most of it, and I'm not saying that all of the ingredients are necessarily bad. I just prefer simpler, fresher and more natural things to go on my rice.

Except for when I really want the crunch that only furikake delivers- a few occasional sprinkles can't hurt!

Those labels of yours that only list a few main ingredients sound really suspicious. I remember when I was in Canada comparing the pasted-on English label the original Japanese label, and boy did they leave lots of stuff out! I don't know if this was just laziness on the part of the manufacturer or importer (it must be hard to translate all that stuff) or deliberate sneakiness. I suspect the latter.

[torakris]

I think from now on I will stick with Jin's goma-shio mix!

[margaret]

I know what you mean about the Japanese labels. I always wondered why they can't get someone to translate them in full - although maybe you're right, perhaps certain ingredients are being left out for import reasons.

Very frustrating to me, though, since I don't eat meat and they always stick the English labels over the Japanese ingredient list - and niku ekisu seems to show up in everything from salad dressing to yakisoba sauce. Now I just don't buy the prepackaged stuff.

On a totally unrelated note, though, apparently it's now illegal to import Japanese beef products into the U.S. (mad cow reasons) and they've taken all the meat derivatives out of the curry roux and other mixes. Or so they claim.

[torakris]

Right after the BSE scare here a lot of curry roux, furikake, yakisoba packets etc had labels saying no beef products used. Some Japanese stopped buying the products as well.

Just checked my box of curry roux I picked up last week it still says on the front that no beef products are used

[jrufusj]

New use for furikake:

We've been eating up leftovers this weekend. Last night that meant cleaning the last scraps from the carcass of a chicken Cathryn had roasted earlier in the week and making a chicken salad. We didn't have enough for a plated salad, so we made sandwiches with some good whole grain bread we picked up from the little German deli outside the expat food market.

We had a few potatoes that also needed to be eaten so -- as a rare treat -- I made potato chips (crisps). We almost never buy that kind of packaged crap, so we only eat them when I make them. Well, with potatoes that needed to be eaten and a dinner of sandwiches, it seemed time for the splurge.

Got out the Japanese mandoline, sliced them paper thin, fried them in batches in pretty hot soy oil until they quit giving off moisture, drained them, filled a paper sack with paper towel shreds, dumped the chips in, shook them to get rid of the rest of the excess oil, shook in a little salt, SAW THE WASABI FURIKAKE BOTTLE. That did it; in went a healthy dose and shake, shake went the bag. Out came a chip. Taste...damn good.

I probably don't make potato crisps more than four or five times a year, but I made another batch tonight. Guess what flavor they were.

His bloatedness,

Jim

Edited: To add the fact that it was my wife who spotted the furikake and suggested using it. She is responsible for the fact that I ate potato chips two nights in a row!

Edited September 22, 2003 by jrufusj (log)

[NVNVGirl]

I do use furikake as a marinade... but for sashimi, its a common ingredient in Poke (hawaiian sashimi salad kind of thing).

Yummy a little maguro or salmon chopped into bite size pieces, some seaweed salad, a little soy sauce, sesame oil, red chilis (if you like spicy), green onions, and some furikake.  Very good with rice.

I had no idea there were different kinds of furikake! I discovered it when I was in Hawaii, and brought a couple of jars home with me. I love it, even tho I'm sure it's got a lot of salt in it, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE poke! Cannot wait to get back to Hawaii next month! Well, I guess this time I"m going to have to look for other types of furikake to bring home again! Most people bring back shells and leis....I bring back condiments

[FoodZealot]

I like furikake occasionally. Putting it on tofu sounds great, tissue.

This may seem a bit odd, but in Hawaii, people would sneak furikake into movie theaters to put on their popcorn - often with "butter topping" already on it. I believe it is now available from the concession stand like this in some places. Arare (rice crackers), norimaki and other items have always been available as snacks at theater, so people also concoct their own custom popcorn. Sometimes including li hing mui, M&M's, gummi worms, etc.

Another big craze in Hawaii (or seemed to be when I was there last year) is coating salmon with furikake, roasting it and serving it with wasabi mayo.

~Tad