Semiserious Chefs

This very kid-friendly furikake is Nathan’s favorite for rice.

One of the things I love about cooking new Asian foods is learning how to translate their names. Nori Komi took me a while to figure out. Not the nori part. That’s really easy; ‘seaweed.’ To be specific it’s a type of seaweed, nori. But the komi part took me a while to track down. Finally, with the help of Google Translator I found 込, Japanese for komi, which means ‘included.’ AH! Nori Komi Furikake is the basic rice seasoning, furikake, which is sesame seeds and salt, with the inclusion of Nori. “Nori Included Furikake;” Nori Komi Furikake. …which I’m sure you will now, never forget!

As easy as it is to get a hold of manufactured furikakes, they are not necessarily cheap and usually contain a huge amount of processed ingredients and preservatives. Why not make your own, when it is SO easy?!

Most store bought Nori Komi Furikake includes both white and black sesame seeds. Black sesame seeds are simply white sesame seeds still in the hull. It is said that the black sesame seeds are a little more bitter, perhaps coffee-like, while the white seeds are nuttier and slightly sweet, but it seems that most people really don’t notice a major enough difference to have a preference for anything other than their color in comparing to the rest of the dish. That being said, if you want to go with tradition or just like the color, and want a darker furikake then, by all means, swap out half of them in the recipe below. But if you are like me and just want to get it done without a second stop at yet another store, just use your typical sesame seeds.

Dried hijiki seaweed is very crunchy with a wonderfully full ocean flavor. Adding some to your nori komi furikake can really bring more texture and extra depth of flavor.

Tradition again in discussion, nori is a type of seaweed, so using nori sheets, or even those seaweed snack sheets like I have below, is the main way to go with this particular furikake. If, however, you want to add more crunch to you mix I might suggest exchanging or simply adding some dried hijiki sea weed. It’s rather inexpensive, has great flavor, and will give your seasoning more depth.