Japanese-Style Seasoning AKA Shichimi Togarashi The Sherry Way

This is the Sherry version of this Japanese seasoning.  Am I going quite mad, talking about myself in the third person?  Yep, already down that path, my friends.  What's that The Cheshire Cat says?: 'We're all mad here', and 'You're entirely bonkers.'  Yep, I'm there.

I've been buying packets of this from my fave online herb store (called Herbie's) for yonks, but I decided to give it a go as I had a rather large packet of nori to use up!  Half a sheet down, nine and a half to go :=)  

Did I mention how much I love Alice in Wonderland?  I have a 1946 copy that was my mum's, then mine.  And they spell 'cannot' as 'ca'n't'!  Have you noticed how people spell 'can not' as two words these days?  What's with that, my friends?  Why make it harder to spell?  How it irks me! :=)  "That's because you're a writer!," said a very kind friend.     

a tasty seasoning for all sorts of dishes

This recipe is a mish-mash of one from The Daring Gourmet and another from Wandercooks, (but mostly from TDG).  It makes one wee jar of seasoning.

ingredients:

1-1.5 Tbs dried orange peel/powder (not sweetened) see Notes

half a sheet of yaki nori (toasted seaweed)

1-2 heaped Tbs chilli flakes (I used gochugaru) see Notes

1/2-2/3 tsp sea salt (optional)

1/2 tsp lemon myrtle powder (optional) see Notes

2 tsp white sesame seeds, toasted

2 tsp black sesame seeds, toasted

1 tsp szechuan peppers, toasted

1/2 tsp poppy seeds, toasted

1 tsp ground ginger

Method:

Toast your seeds, and break up/snip the nori into tiny, wee pieces!

Chuck the orange peel into a small food processor, and blitz/pulse  away till tiny (no need to blitz if you have dried orange powder)

Then add all the other ingredients and blitz/pulse some more, till you have a texture that you're happy with - mine was fairly fine

Tip/pour the mixture into a small jar, and sprinkle lavishly on anything and everything - omelettes, tuna sandwiches, fried rice etc etc

Notes:

I could only buy dried orange slices, so I broke off the peel and blitzed it myself till I had tiny pieces

Some recipes suggest using 2 Tbs of chilli flakes; I like mine a bit milder, but go for it if you are a chilli fiend

I toasted the seeds in a small, dry skillet for a few minutes till fragrant, and I bashed the szechuan peppers in my Jamie Oliver thingy/flavour shaker before toasting.  Oh yes, and I put the poppy seeds into the skillet last, after I'd toasted the other seeds for a couple of minutes; they are smaller and will burn more readily

Lemon myrtle is endemic to Queensland so you may not be able to get it where you are! so just leave it out

 

ingredients gathered

(Dried orange slices and szechuan peppers from our mate Lucy's Providore Store Mumbleberry in our local village)

snip off the orange peel

and snip up the nori into small pieces

zap the orange peel and nori together

toast your seeds

and shake your goodies in your Jamie Oliver shaker (not necessary but fun!)

blitz everything up, and tip into a small jar

and here she be!

sprinkled on my Corn Thins with tuna, boiled egg and kewpie

'we're all mad here!'

szechuan peppers and orange slices