Semiserious Chefs

Having worked on 6 furikake recipes before this one, I am surely getting the hang of flavors and styles by now. As great as it is to replicate existing ideas, it’s also nice to come up with something your own, as it pertains to your personal preferences and region. That being said, there isn’t much […]

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 […]

In the short, Lumpia is the Filipino version of pork egg rolls. The cuisine of the Philippines is actually quite an intriguing one. Obviously they are an Asian nation, and they have an abundant supply of such fresh ingredients as rice, bananas, citrus, fish, and other uniquely Asian fruits and vegetables, but they have also […]

Despite prevailing wisdom, grenadine is not a cherry-flavored syrup. It never has been. Grenadine is actually made from pomegranate juice and sugar. And it’s surprisingly simple to make at home. Real grenadine should be a deep magenta color; not some sort of bright neon red or pink shade like you see with many of the […]

Samboosa are Arabic fried triangle pastries. They are most often savory, so the title word here, halwah or ‘sweets’ gives us a clue that this is a fried triangular pastry sweet snack. The original recipe I played off called for cashews and walnuts, but I am really not a fan of walnuts. For my rendition […]

This idea was brought to my attention by my Brother-in-Law, who had heard Alton Brown bragging about it on a pod cast. Incredibly easy to make, cured egg yolks can be very useful for a large number of cuisines and dishes. All the rage right now, they are a great way to bring some sophistication […]

Yasai Fumi Furikake is also known as veggie furikake. As yasai fumi means ‘vegetable flavor,’ it’s a wonderful way to take those otherwise nearly indistinguishable ‘healthfood’ vegetable chips, and turn them into something tasty. Now there are two common varieties of these vegetable snacks. For this recipe I used the vegetable chips, but one could […]

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. […]

The base for any furikake is sesame seeds and salt. The name noritama comes from nori, or ‘sea weed,’ and tama, short for tamago, which means ‘egg.’ This ‘sprinkle’ for rice is hugely popular not only in Japan but all over the world. Noritama furikake is easy enough to purchase, even common in many US […]

This recipe was created after my recent discovery of dried bean curds. There are a lot of recipes floating around for simple salads and soups using these tofu skins, but I so much enjoy kkakdugi (Quick Korean Radish Kinchi) that I thought for sure you could use bean curd sticks for a similar snack. After […]