Furikake Organic

What is Furikake?

Furikake is a mixture of sesame seeds (white and black), seaweed and salt. It is usually served on steamed rice bowls and pressed into rice-based snacks such as onigiri (rice dumplings).

The name comes from furi kakeru, a Japanese verb meaning "to sprinkle on".

What's in the furikake?

Furikake comes in many variants; but the classic blend includes seaweed, sesame seeds, katsuobushi fish flakes and miso or soy sauce powder. These ingredients are the essential flavors of Japanese cuisine, and a few pinches of furikake will add a delicious touch of umami to your rice bowl.

Unlike many age-old Japanese foods, furikake is a rather recent tradition. What's more, it wasn't created by cooks as a culinary garnish, but by a pharmacist as a nutritional supplement!

Between the end and the beginning of the 19th century, Japan's population doubled, leading to major nutritional problems and a significant lack of calcium in the diet. To counter this problem, pharmacist Suekichi Yoshimaru came up with the idea of introducing a dietary supplement (would it be the first?) based on fish bones. In order to make this supplement palatable to everyone, especially children, he added sesame and seaweed. He called this mixture "rice's friend".

It wasn't until 1959 that furikake took its current name, and the pharmacist recognized as the creator of the blend.