Friday 25 November 2022

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

34 comments:

  1. I have been using spice blends I put together from recipes from various countries. We have Indian, Hungarian, Mexican to name a few. I don’t think I could get several of these ingredients here but I will look. Thank you for the suggestion and recipe.

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    1. it's great isn't it to try out different seasonings?

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  2. Such an interesting condiment! I should make some too as I have every single ingredients :-)

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  3. I would have to buy nori to make this, which I might do as I have the lemon myrtle which is an Aussie ingredient.
    from Tandy I Lavender and Lime https://tandysinclair.com

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  4. Jave cooked with this for over sixty years ever since Japan became a second business home - even use it in a lot of European dishes ! Have brought home from Japan, bought from Herbies naturally and still do . . . but mostly makee my own . . . now have a new verso in to try !!!

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    1. yes it's a fab seasoning. i do love japanese foodstuffs.

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  5. Hat's off to you for making your own seasoning Sherry. I'm too lazy to go to all that effort, but I bet your home made version tastes fab!

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  6. I was just looking at my little tube of prepared togarashi and wondering why I haven't used it in ages. So many spices! So little time! Lemon myrtle sounds neat, but I have never seen it.

    I love those early illustrations of Alice. For me too, that's the real one.

    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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    1. I don't know if they grow lemon myrtle commercially or pick it wild! maybe a bit of both!

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  7. You certainly created an appetizing mixture of spices. You are going to enjoy cooking with them. Sounds delicious.

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    1. thanks judee. It's a seasoning really so it goes on everything.

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  8. l love that you love that old book! This spice is new to me. I'm curious to give it a try.

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    1. I tend to throw it on everything Jeff. I do love me some japanese flavours.

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  9. I love making homemade seasoning blends, and this one sounds rather tasty - and unique, too. I don't believe I've ever heard of Lemon myrtle though. Oh - and Laura, Robbie and I did an Alice in Wonderland mystery adventure a few weeks back. We all had so much fun - and so many folks were dressed up in full costume. It was amazing, and I suspect you would've loved it, Sherry!

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    1. I do love anything and everything Alice! Yes lemon myrtle grows here in QLD, so maybe not available in North (or is it South?) Carolina :=)

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  10. My kids love Japanese food so I'm sure they would enjoy this seasoning.

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  11. Ohhh thanks for sharing this, I love this seasoning, it gives a nice kick to many Japanese dishes.

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  12. I love this seasoning and how delicious making your own Sherry! :D

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  13. My spice bottle from Japan is similar like the seaweed, seeds and ginger but is heavy on the red pepper and what they call Japanese pepper - the orange is roasted also. I'm a big fan of Asian seasonings :) Alice in Wonderland - a classic!

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    1. Yes the szechuan pepper is instead of japanese sansho apparently. Yay Alice!

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  14. So easy and so delish - I love that you can add it to so many things. I'd definitely be a 2 teaspoons of chilli flakes kind of girl!

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  15. I do love fresh from the kitchen spice blends. This one sounds like a winner!

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  16. I love using togarashi and, once I run out of my store bought, I will be making your version! Homemade is ALWAYS better.

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  17. This looks so delicious Sherry, but now I am challenged because of my gut, I don't eat seeds anymore, and it has made a huge difference. However it is so challenging because so many wonderful recipes insist on them. Oh well could be worse, I can definitely work around it. Homemade is the answer.

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    1. oh no! no seeds at all. i eat a lot of them - sesame and pepitas and sunflower and poppy ...

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