Furikake is a Japanese seasoning made from dried fish (bonito), sesame seeds, dried seaweed, salt, sugar, and often msg. A Primal version is easy to make–simply drop the sugar and msg–and you have a versatile seasoning for just about everything.

The ratio of ingredients can be tailored to your own taste, so simply use this furikake recipe as a guide. This particular recipe adds plenty of nori, since you can’t go wrong with a lot of nori.

Lightly toasted sesame seeds add crunch and the bonito flakes add an irreplaceable salty, umami flavor. Most grocery stores these days sell bonito flakes, or it can be ordered online. Bonito is air-dried, aged, and shaved tuna.

If you really miss the sweet flavor of sugar in furikake to contrast with all the saltiness, then add a little bit of unsweetened, toasted coconut flakes to the mix. You won’t be disappointed.

Keep a jar of furikake on your counter and you’ll find endless uses for it. Sprinkle it over cooked vegetables, seafood and red meat. Garnish cauliflower rice with furikake for an Asian flavor. Add furikake to eggs, sprinkle it over salad…it’s an addictive seasoning that can quickly add a lot of flavor to even the simplest of meals.

Servings: 3/4 cup furikake

Time in the Kitchen: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sesame seeds (75 g)
• 4 sheets toasted nori
• 1 tablespoon bonito flakes (15 ml)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (2.5 ml)

Instructions:

In a dry skillet over medium heat, lightly toast the sesame seeds. Keep an eye on them–the seeds won’t seem to toast at all for several minutes, then suddenly they’ll go from raw to burnt very quickly.

Use scissors to cut the nori into small strips, or put all 4 nori sheets in the food processor at the same time. Process until the nori is in small, feathery pieces.

Combine the sesame seeds, nori, bonito flakes and sea salt. Store in a sealed jar.

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