Four-Minute Furikake

My first experience with Furikake was when my parents came home from a spontaneous trip to Las Vegas. They always brought unusual souvenirs for me and my brother but this one was, well, more unusual than normal.

Wrapped in newsprint was a 2oz container, like the ones you get dipping sauces in when ordering out from burger restaurants, filled with a concoction of green flakes and white seeds.

My mom explained that this was something called Furikake. They went to a restaurant which served fries topped with this stuff and my souvenir was a small container of it.

Let me tell you, I was hooked.

From then on, I noticed so many restaurants using it. From topping rice balls with Furikake to seeing people shovel it on top of their poke. I began to see it so often I started to think of it as rice’s equivalent to having a salt shaker at the table.

While trying to establish my perfect furikake recipe, I noticed two things. First, the traditional method of Furikake involves a fairly lengthy process to turn the seaweed into edible and flavorful strips. Second, every single recipe was different. The only things that seem to be constants are the sesame seeds and seaweed. Taking my newfound knowledge as inspiration, I created a really easy four-minute furikake recipe! Enjoy!

Four-Minute Furikake!

Four-Minute Furikake!

Ingredients:

  • 1 package seaweed snacks. My favorite ones for this recipe are the wasabi flavored ones. A significant amount of your furikake’s flavor will come from the seasoning, so pick your seaweed snacks wisely!

  • 1/2 cup white sesame seeds

  • 2 dashes fish sauce

  • 1/8 teaspoon granulated sugar

  • 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Procedure

  1. Chop the seaweed snacks into small squares. Set aside.

  2. Put the sesame seeds in a microwave for 30 seconds. Then, stir with a fork and microwave for another 45 seconds. At this point, the sesame seeds should smell toasty and start to turn brown. When you touch the seeds they should feel slightly oily (caution they will be hot).

  3. Immediately mix in the fish sauce, sugar, and kosher salt. Stir until fully combined as the sesame seeds start to cool.

  4. Mix in the seaweed snacks while the sesame seed mixture is still warm. Often times, putting this mixture in a jar and shaking it will be the best way to combine.

  5. Store in an air-tight container for up to one month. Trust me, it will not last that long!

Holden Dahlerbruch