Home-style ── Gohan no otomo (rice companions)
Furikake
Furikake — dry rice seasoning
A dry, seasoned mix of fish, nori, sesame, and the like sprinkled over rice, said to have been devised in Taisho-era Kumamoto as a way to make up for a calcium shortage. Today it comes in a wide range of combinations.
Lineage
What it's made of
Furikake is fish, nori, sesame, bonito flakes, and the like, dried, finely broken down, and seasoned. With almost no moisture left, it stays loose and dry, and sprinkled over hot rice it releases a faint aroma along with a hit of salt and umami. Depending on the mix of ingredients, it ranges from sweet-salty to strongly fish-forward.
How it's made
Fish is crushed fine, bones and all, and combined with chopped nori, toasted sesame, or bonito flakes, seasoned with soy sauce and sugar, then dried. Driving out as much moisture as possible is said to be what gives it its shelf life, and it's packed into bags or jars for long-term sale. Beyond topping rice, it's also used to fill a rice ball or season a dish underneath.
Why it took this shape
The story goes that in 1913, a pharmacist in Kumamoto named Yoshimaru Suekichi, trying to make up for food and calcium shortages, came up with crushing fish bones and all, seasoning them, and sprinkling the result over rice. It started small enough to hand out to neighbors, but word spread, and under the name 'Gohan no Tomo' — a friend to rice — it's said to have been made continuously for more than a century since.
Before you go
- How to use a convenience storeA quick guide to choosing rice balls and hot snacks, buying coffee, paying by cash, IC card, or tap payment, using the eat-in corner, and sorting your trash — the basics for a first visit.
- How to shop at a supermarketHow to choose prepared foods, sashimi, and packaged sushi, when discount stickers tend to appear, region-only specialties, buying by weight, the checkout and bagging flow, and sampling etiquette at a local supermarket.
- Food for Obon and the harvest moon (tsukimi)A guide to the meat-free shojin ryori and somen served at Obon, and the tsukimi dango offered on the night of the harvest moon.
Dishes in the same style
- Ajitsuke NoriSheet nori brushed with a soy-and-sugar seasoning and toasted crisp, said to have been devised as a gift for an imperial visit to Kyoto in the Meiji era. Its snap gives way to a burst of flavor and aroma.
- Chirimen JakoYoung sardine fry, boiled in salted water and sun-dried, with the name shifting according to how far the drying goes. Western Japan tends to call it chirimen-jako, eastern Japan shirasu-boshi.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Known source
- Known source: Kumamoto, Kumamoto
In 1913, a Kumamoto pharmacist named Yoshimaru Suekichi is said to have devised 'Gohan no Tomo' as a way to make up for a calcium shortage — the origin credited for furikake.