If I have a bowl of rice, you can bet there’s going to be a thick layer of furikake on the top. But what is furikake seasoning? What is in furikake seasoning? How do you pronounce furikake? What does furikake taste like? Is furikake vegan? What do you put furikake on? Let’s find out more about furikake.
How to pronounce furikake?
Okay, first things first, let’s make sure we’re all pronouncing this word the same way when we read it. Furikake is pronounced “fur-ah-KAA-kay.” Got it? Good.
What is furikake seasoning?
So, what is furikake? Furikake seasoning is a dry condiment used in Japanese cuisine that can be sprinkled over a variety of foods to enhance the flavor. But the main thing furikake is used for is rice.
The origin of modern furikake is a little murky. One of the most retold origin stories involves a pharmacist named Suekichi Yoshimaru who invented modern furikake to address calcium deficiencies in the population.
What is in furikake seasoning?
Furikake can be made in a variety of ways, but the most common recipe includes sesame seeds, chopped seaweed, sugar, salt, monosodium glutamate, and bonito flakes. For those of you that don’t know, bonito flakes are dried fish flakes. That’s right, furikake gets a lot of that umami flavor from dried fish, which means, no, furikake is generally not vegan.
Other furikake versions include ingredients like wasabi, dehydrated egg, sardines, cod roe, meat, yuzu, or curry powder.
What does furikake taste like?
Furikake has a nutty, salty, umami flavor with a slightly crunchy texture. Depending on the ingredients, furikake can be on the sweeter or the spicier side. There is a pretty large spectrum of seafood and fish flavor that can be present in furikake as well. If there is just bonito, the furikake will probably just have that umami flavor. But with more fish, sardines, or roe present, you’ll definitely have more seafood flavor.
What do you put furikake on?
Traditionally, furikake is used on rice. But you can put furikake on whatever you darn well please! Furikake goes wonderfully sprinkled over vegetables or fish or eggs. Furikake is also used a lot on onigiri, which is just a big old rice ball.
If you want to get creative, try putting some furikake on your avocado toast or on a bowl of poke. But the ultimate furikake power move may just be putting it on a bunch of buttery popcorn. The other people in the movie theater always give me a nasty side eye when I pull out the furikake, but they’re all just jealous.
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!