What is this mysterious green Japanese seasoning?
July 17, 2015 3:55 AM Subscribe
My son wants to make rice balls that he made in his Japanese class and his teacher was kind enough to give him some of the seasoning they used. It looks like this (flickr).
The granules are maybe 1mm in diameter and maybe a couple of mm long. Ignore the jar, that's from hot english mustard and alas, not a clue.
The question is simple; what is this mysterious green Japanese seasoning? Nothing I enter into Google gets me anything that looks like it, mainly because I just don't know what to call it to narrow down the search.
Special adoration if you can point me to somewhere in the north-east of Melbourne that stocks it. Super special adoration if you've got a good Japanese rice ball recipe as well.
The granules are maybe 1mm in diameter and maybe a couple of mm long. Ignore the jar, that's from hot english mustard and alas, not a clue.
The question is simple; what is this mysterious green Japanese seasoning? Nothing I enter into Google gets me anything that looks like it, mainly because I just don't know what to call it to narrow down the search.
Special adoration if you can point me to somewhere in the north-east of Melbourne that stocks it. Super special adoration if you've got a good Japanese rice ball recipe as well.
I think it's a variety of furikake — "sprinkles" (savory) that are put on various rice dishes. Sometimes people will eat a bowl of rice with nothing on it but some of this.
Most varieties involve some sort of seaweed, but there may also be tiny shrimp, sesame seeds, egg, and various other ingredients.
This sample looks as though it might be granulated kombu — kelp. Are you able to taste it? It should be pretty distinctive and seaweedy.
Look on line for kombu furikake, but your best bet for a source north-east of Melbourne is to find an actual Japanese grocery. There's almost always some sort of furikake in such places, and you might enjoy experimenting with what's available. What's more, the people working there will be able to help you learn more about Japanese food, and the only things better than Japanese food are Japanese language, Japanese movies, and of course Japanese people.
(Furikake is pronounced in four syllables: "foo-ree-kah-keh" will do.)
posted by aestival at 4:31 AM on July 17, 2015 [8 favorites]
Most varieties involve some sort of seaweed, but there may also be tiny shrimp, sesame seeds, egg, and various other ingredients.
This sample looks as though it might be granulated kombu — kelp. Are you able to taste it? It should be pretty distinctive and seaweedy.
Look on line for kombu furikake, but your best bet for a source north-east of Melbourne is to find an actual Japanese grocery. There's almost always some sort of furikake in such places, and you might enjoy experimenting with what's available. What's more, the people working there will be able to help you learn more about Japanese food, and the only things better than Japanese food are Japanese language, Japanese movies, and of course Japanese people.
(Furikake is pronounced in four syllables: "foo-ree-kah-keh" will do.)
posted by aestival at 4:31 AM on July 17, 2015 [8 favorites]
Ya I'll second kombu furikake (and aestival)
I've seen kombu furikake that looks just like that. While you're in any local "oriental market" which will stock this (and although I cannot offer a specific locale I saw them all over Sydney and melbourne) be sure to also pick up some ebi fumi furikake (Japanese salt and pepper) and bonita furikake (weird wood hard cured fish that they shred into flakes for the sprinkling delight!)
posted by chasles at 4:42 AM on July 17, 2015
I've seen kombu furikake that looks just like that. While you're in any local "oriental market" which will stock this (and although I cannot offer a specific locale I saw them all over Sydney and melbourne) be sure to also pick up some ebi fumi furikake (Japanese salt and pepper) and bonita furikake (weird wood hard cured fish that they shred into flakes for the sprinkling delight!)
posted by chasles at 4:42 AM on July 17, 2015
The go-to rice ball recipe I use to show other people who need detailed instructions to feel confident is the original one from justbento.com but I just checked and they have an onigiri FAQ with lots of additional info and links to all their rice ball posts. The plastic wrap technique worked wonderfully well the one time I bothered with it, too. Most important is just preparing and cooking the rice right, of course.
Your seasoning is almost definitely kombu furikake. Furikake is like savory sprinkles and comes in lots of flavors and combinations. To extend the metaphor, rice balls are the ice cream in the make-your-own-sundae of it all, so don't be afraid to try ingredient combinations for fillings and different flavors of furikake. I'm fond of the ones that include toasted black sesame seeds and bonito. If you have an asian supermarket chances are there will be a whole chunk of an aisle just with furikake and related products because everyone likes a different flavor best.
posted by Mizu at 5:02 AM on July 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Your seasoning is almost definitely kombu furikake. Furikake is like savory sprinkles and comes in lots of flavors and combinations. To extend the metaphor, rice balls are the ice cream in the make-your-own-sundae of it all, so don't be afraid to try ingredient combinations for fillings and different flavors of furikake. I'm fond of the ones that include toasted black sesame seeds and bonito. If you have an asian supermarket chances are there will be a whole chunk of an aisle just with furikake and related products because everyone likes a different flavor best.
posted by Mizu at 5:02 AM on July 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I am going to go against the furikake kombu train because it just about always looks leafy as shown here. I probably have about ten different types of furikake in my kitchen right now. Furikake in general is not granular, although some do contain them such as the famous のりたま brand, which contains egg granules.
These look like they could be wasabi granules to me, such as depicted on this page. Another likely candidate is chazuke granules. Have you tasted them?
I don't think of onigiri/musubi as having a "recipe". There are two basic styles. The first would be to mix in furikake to taste and then shape the balls. The second style would be to wrap the rice ball around a filling such as some chicken, fish, meat, or vegetables/seaweed. Tuna salad is even a popular filling.
BTW, ebi fumi furikake would be shrimp flavored, not salt and pepper. Salt and pepper mix is called shio koshou in Japanese.
posted by Tanizaki at 7:30 AM on July 17, 2015
These look like they could be wasabi granules to me, such as depicted on this page. Another likely candidate is chazuke granules. Have you tasted them?
I don't think of onigiri/musubi as having a "recipe". There are two basic styles. The first would be to mix in furikake to taste and then shape the balls. The second style would be to wrap the rice ball around a filling such as some chicken, fish, meat, or vegetables/seaweed. Tuna salad is even a popular filling.
BTW, ebi fumi furikake would be shrimp flavored, not salt and pepper. Salt and pepper mix is called shio koshou in Japanese.
posted by Tanizaki at 7:30 AM on July 17, 2015
Taste some! Do they taste salty-seaweedy? Or do they taste a bit spicier, like bright horseradish?
posted by barnone at 8:01 AM on July 17, 2015
posted by barnone at 8:01 AM on July 17, 2015
Response by poster: Okay, it's now morning and with all your excellent advice and guidance, I've gone the taste test.
It's quite subtle, but it's got more of a wasabi taste than a salty/seaweedy taste. That, and along with the link in Tanizaki's post, I'm going with wasabi granules.
Thank you all for your help. We've got some shopping to do to hunt down some of those flavours.
posted by antipodes at 3:00 PM on July 17, 2015
It's quite subtle, but it's got more of a wasabi taste than a salty/seaweedy taste. That, and along with the link in Tanizaki's post, I'm going with wasabi granules.
Thank you all for your help. We've got some shopping to do to hunt down some of those flavours.
posted by antipodes at 3:00 PM on July 17, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by tinkletown at 3:59 AM on July 17, 2015