Homemade Furikake Blends

At it’s base, furikake is a mix of sesame seeds and salt. Although this ‘Friend For Rice’ sprinkle started out with the inclusion of ground fish bones for added calcium in the Japanese diet, it now most commonly uses bonito flakes for flavoring.

Most store bought versions contain a lot of filler ingredients, including starches, as well as MSG, and a ton of preservatives and anti-caking agents. By making your own furikake, you have complete control and can eliminate all of the junk. None of the recipes below use MSG.

Furikakes are most commonly sprinkled over steamed rice, but they are also great over noodles or any other grain. You may wish to season fish, sashimi, sushi, or other meats with a particular blend. You can also just as well top steamed or sauteed vegetables with your favorite furikake.

Furikake is a great introduction to Japanese cuisine, and is generally very kid friendly.

Gomashio Furikake

Toasted Sesame Seeds and Salt; Sometimes With Nori

This is the most basic of Furikakes. Simply unhulled sesame seeds and salt. It has been used in Japan for thousands of years over rice, fish, and a multitude of other dishes, but has gained some more recent fame as a lower sodium substitute to straight salt.

Using a ratio anywhere from 15:1 to 5:1 sesame to salt, it is easy to make the mix according to your own personal taste. Either white or black sesame is acceptable, but the secret is in toasting them. This gentle heating process really brings out the nuttiness of the seeds. It is said that black sesame seeds are a little more nutty, bitter, and perhaps chocolatey. I’m inclined to agree, though the difference is very subtle. I suggest choosing what might look best with your dish, but it may come down to availability. I was finally able to find affordable black sesame seeds in a tiny Korean market. Everyone else either wanted way too much for a small portion or had cheap bags the size of China.

Another great option is to add some seaweed, perhaps chopped seaweed crisps, to have Nori Gomashio on hand. Some commercial brands even add sugar, so the options for personalizing even this most basic condiment are quite limitless.
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Gomashio and Nori Gomashio

By: Semiserious Chefs
Makes: ~3 Tablespoons

Ingredients:

3 T unhulled sesame seeds (black or white)
1/2 t sea salt*
For Nori Gomashio: 1 seaweed snack sheet chopped

*This recipe has a relatively low salt percentage. Feel free to add more to taste; easily as much as 1 1/2 teaspoons total.

Directions:

In a small dry sauce pan toast the sesame seeds for just a few minutes over medium-low heat, shuffling regularly to keep from burning.
Add the seeds, salt, and seaweed if using, to a small dish.

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Noritama Furikake

Sesame Seeds, Nori, and Egg Yolk; Seasoned

The name noritama comes from nori, or ‘sea weed,’ and tama, short for tamago, which means ‘egg.’ This furikake is easy to make and the ingredients are cheap. For my own mix I like to use an aged egg yolk, but you can also simply use a boiled egg yolk. I really like the complexity of flavor the little bit of soy sauce and rice wine bring to this combination.
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Noritama Furikake

By: Semiserious Chefs
Makes: ~1/4 cup

Ingredients:

1 t sea salt
1/8 t soy sauce
1 t sugar
1/8 t sake or michiu
1 t ground bonito flakes
2 1/2 T sesame seeds
8 roasted seaweed snack sheets; cut into short strips
- OR one sheet of nori; cut into small strips*
1 salted aged egg yolk; grated
- OR one boiled egg yolk; grated

*This may require the addition of more salt to taste

Directions:

Whisk together the salt, soy sauce, sugar, and sake.
Add the ground bonito flakes, and mix well.
Stir in the sesame seeds, seaweed, and grated egg yolk.

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Nori Komi Furikake

Sesame Seeds, Seaweed, and Salt

Nori for type of seaweed, and Komi for included, this Furikake includes seaweed! Super easy to make, this rather basic combination is a great leaping off point for people who are new to furikake; especially children. Store bought versions usually include black and white sesame seeds. Feel free to customize yours to your preference.
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Nori Komi Furikake

By: Semiserious Chefs
Makes: ~1/4 cup

Ingredients:

2 1/2 T sesame seeds
16 sea weed snack sheets (~half a package)
- OR 2 sheets of sushi nori; adding more salt as needed
1 t sugar
1/2 t salt

Optional: Replace half of the nori with 1 Tablespoon crushed dried hijiki seaweed

Directions:

Cut the nori into small strips and subsrquent squares.
Add the nori, sesame seeds, sugar, and salt to a small dish and mix.

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Shiso/Perilla Furikake

Sesame Seeds, Seaweed, and Shiso/Perilla; Seasoned

There are several names and styles for this kind of furikake. First, shiso, perilla, and beefsteak plant are all the same thing. It is a member of the mint family, with green to dark purple tooth-edged leaves. It has a very strong mint-basil flavor, with definite pepperiness and a bitter undertone. It can also be described as having subtle flavors of anise. If you don’t have perilla you can try a combination of those flavors or other similar leaves, perhaps Thai basil, but this very common fresh herb can be found in almost every Asian market. They most often offer little packets of trimmed perilla, rolled and rubber banded.

Typically made with dried perilla leaves, some of these store bought blends contain just perilla, salt, and sugar, while other may have black and/or white sesame seeds, nori, and even bonito. The recipe I have below uses fresh trimmed leaves. I tried drying a few out and found them to really loose their delicious flavor. Because of this, I have also opted to include some other ingredients, so that the furikake becomes rounded with flavor and not over powered by the bold perilla leaves.
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Shiso/Perilla Furikake

By: Semiserious Chefs
Makes: ~1/4 cup

Ingredients:

1 t sea salt
1/8 t soy sauce
1 t sugar
1/8 t sake or michiu
1 t ground bonito flakes
4 t white sesame seeds
4 t black sesame seeds
8 roasted seaweed snack sheets; cut into short strips
- OR one sheet of nori; cut into small strips*
8 perilla/shiso leaves; chopped very finely

*This may require the addition of more salt to taste

Directions:

Whisk together the salt, soy sauce, sugar, and sake.
Add the ground bonito flakes, and mix well.
Stir in the sesame seeds, seaweed, and chopped leaves.

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Yasai Fumi Furikake

Sesame Seeds, Vegetable Chips, and Nori; Seasoned

This furikake is ‘vegetable flavored.’ You can use either dried whole vegetables, vegetable chips, or veggie sticks. I also include a small amount of vegetable broth powder. This can be found in the bulk herb section of most health food departments.
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Yasai Fumi Furikake (Vegetable Furikake)

By: Semiserious Chefs
Makes: ~1/3 cup

Ingredients:

2 T sesame seeds
1.5 T coarse ground vegetable chips/sticks
4 roasted seaweed crisp sheets; snipped into small squares
- OR 1/2 of a nori sheet with additional salt to taste
1/2 t sugar
1/8 t sea salt
1/8 t vegetable broth powder
1/4 t sake or michiu

Directions:

Add the vegetable broth powder, salt, and sugar to a small dish.
Stir in the sake.
Add the sesame seeds, ground vegetables, and seaweed, and stir well to incorporate.

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Ebi Fumi Furikake

Sesame Seeds, Shrimp, Nori, and Egg Yolk; Seasoned

This Furikake is entitled ebi fumi, for shrimp flavor. Although rather pungent, it is both one of the sweeter and crunchier furikake.
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Ebi Fumi Furikake

By: Semiserious Chefs
Makes: ~1/4 cup

Ingredients:

1 t sea salt
1/8 t soy sauce
1 1/2 t sugar
1/8 t sake or michiu
1 t ground bonito flakes
1 T grated egg yolk bottarga
- OR hard boiled egg yolk
2 1/2 T sesame seeds
2 1/2 T fine chopped ground shrimp
8 roasted seaweed snack sheets; cut into short strips
- OR one sheet of nori; cut into small strips*

*This may require the addition of more salt to taste

Directions:

Whisk together the salt, soy sauce, sugar, and sake.
Add the ground bonito flakes, and shrimp, and mix well.
Stir in the sesame seeds, seaweed, and grated egg yolk.

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Semiserious Smoked Salmon Furikake

Toasted Black and White Sesame Seeds, Smoked Salmon, and Nori; Seasoned

After spending so much time learning about and replicating the most common Furikakes, it was time for me to create one specific to the tastes of our family. Andrew being out of the question for his disinterest in seafood all together, Nathan and I really like smoked salmon and seaweed crisps. Along with this, through the creation of the recipes above, I really came to like the seasoning flavors used in several other furikake. To finish it off I went with a mix of both black and white sesame seeds, which I really appreciate toasted.
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Semiserious Smoked Salmon Furikake

By: Semiserious Chefs
Makes: ~ 1-1/4 cup

Ingredients:

1 t sea salt
1/8 t soy sauce
1 t sugar
1/8 t sake or michiu
1 t ground bonito flakes
4 t white sesame seeds
4 t black sesame seeds
8 roasted seaweed snack sheets; chopped into little pieces
1 cup fine flaked dried smoked salmon (see notes above)

Directions:

Whisk together the salt, soy sauce, sugar, and sake. Add the ground bonito.
Toast the sesame seeds, in a small skillet, for just a few moments over medium high heat.
Add the sesame seeds and seaweed to the mixture and blend well.
Stir in the flakes of smoked salmon.

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