Furikake, is a sprinkle seasoning that is widely used in Hawaii as well as its origins of Japan. In Japan, the seasoning of ready-made mix was introduced during World War I and created by Pharmacist Suekichi Yoshimaru. He made the concoction as a way to sneak in calcium through a poured over and sprinkled seasoning that was first called "Gohan no tomo" meals friend. The popular variation at that time was ground up fish eggs, dried fish, roasted sesame seeds, roasted nori sheets sliced, and salt.
The ways to use it can be a topping on mayonnaise sauces, mixed with butter and popcorn, on top chicken, on rice for the spam musubi, or on fish, or even on fries and chips. It is also found in frying batters to add even more flavor to the crunchiness of the dish along with rice crackers or a sort of crushed nut in certain dishes. The flavors and textures give a little bit of extra deliciousness to whatever it is added to. In Hawaii, furikake is made of dried ingredients of seaweed, salt, and sugar broadly speaking and then moves into subcategories of furikake based on its ingredients. There are variations that have been home made, Japan imported, and furikake thats been made in Hawaii. The word furikake means sprinkle something in Japanese and was used to flavor rice originally. It is standard to have some regularly available furikake at the table and ready for sprinkling as it is a must for local families. Each different island has its own furikake that is based on their unique history of what was available or favored by its residents. It has become one of the comfort food seasonings for its status of being a "Ready-made seasoning". Varieties of Furikake There are a variety of furikake sprinkles at the super market and one of the beloved ones is bonito furikake. The taste is great when it is home made and be made with tuna and in Hawaii this was from all sorts of varieties of: Albacore Tuna, Aku Tuna, Hamachi Tuna, and Ahi Tuna. There are over fifty varieties of furikake and growing. Many of the varieties were developed by fishing families, Hawaiian medicine practitioners (laau lapaau), or those who harvested limu seaweed. They would utilized salt from the sea and dry boxes on the land to have their catch dried and broken into bits and stored in jars. Rice was common and would be stretched with whatever was available, so while some chose fats and gravies and others sauces those who lived by the sea would use furikake. Some of the recipes seem to go way farther back, but many of forgotten as it was their parents friends recipe or parents parents. Dried Cuttlefish Furikake, Dried Plum Furikake, Dried Red Squid Furikake, There is still much more to find out in the search of olden days furikake and home-made regional variations. One thing is for sure is that furikake is not just exclusive in Japanese cuisine and it really has transformed into its own thing in the islands Nori Furikake (All purpose sprinkles) As a broad term of nori being seaweed there is actually two categories for furikake that have seaweed as the star ingredient. One type consists of dried and shaped as well as pressed and textured seaweed sheets which is the Nori Furikake. The second type consists of salted and/or dried and optionally crushed Hawaiian limu. The first one is the standard furikake found often on kama'aina kitchen tables. It is accompanied with toasted sesame seeds. Variations follow many standard nori furikake of: Komi Nori Furikake, Wasabi Nori Furikake, Shio Nori Furikake, Tamago Nori Furikake, and Ebi Nori Furikake. Salt Furikake (Pa'akai Sprinkle Seasoning) Often times salt furikake is known as a Poke Add-on or a Poke mixture, but it is also found as a sort of furikake. The standard mixture has hawaiian sea salt, chili flakes, granulated garlic, dried green onion, dried ogo, inamona, sesame seeds, and ginger powder. The salt is important is masking the aroma of dried seafood if it is added. A few Variations include Chili Peppah Furikake (smoked paprika, Hawaiian chili pepper), Ginger salt furikake (garlic ginger), Herb salt Furikake, and Lemon salt Furikake. Fish Furikake (Catch of the day Sprinkle Seasoning) Tuna fish would often be savory in flavor as well as octopus (smoked he'e, tako), Salmon (king salmon), Bill fish (marlin), Crushed fish (dried halalu, dried akule, dried opelu). Fish Limu Furikake would be a specialty of Kauai and would be seasoned with shoyu, alcohol, dried, and smoked. Japanese would do their best to slice thinly or shave flakes of dried seafood meat, have the flaky textured seasoning compliment nori seaweed, and toasted sesame seeds. Limu Furikake (Seaweed Seasoning) Many of the fish that had a strong flavor would be dried in a"Dry Box" and that would be the case for dried seaweed as well that would be salted before the drying process started. Whatever was in the dry box would lead to many sorts of limu furikake. It would be a seasoning that added to dishes for bettah flavor and it was easy to store while still preserving the fish. A few variations are: Lipoa Furikake, Kohu Limu Furikake, Ele'ele Limu Furikake, and Pipi Limu Furikake (big island). Kaki Furikake (specialty of Maui) Kaki Furikake uses kakimochi cracker as a sort of add in to the mixture and makes it different from the rest with its sweetness and aroma. Maui leads to the specialty being tracked to the Tin Roof which sells them as "dime bags". Families have had similar recipes of this and it is argued if it was the first kaki furikake with other variations being: Dried Natto, Dried Kamaboko, and Dried Salmon.
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